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General News

22 May, 2021

School Strike 4 Climate protest draws a passionate crowd

An enthusiastic group of protesters voiced their disapproval of the federal government’s failure to prioritise renewal energy funding.

By Peter McCullagh

Ilaw Holland, 8, and Mayari Holland, 6, at the School Strike 4 Climate rally
Ilaw Holland, 8, and Mayari Holland, 6, at the School Strike 4 Climate rally

About 100 vocal locals joined a nationwide School Strike 4 Climate protest on Friday at the Cairns Esplanade.

The protesters, largely made up of older Cairns residents created an art installation as well as voiced their disapproval loudly with regard to fracking and climate change.

Local student protestors felt it was important to tell government they should be funding more renewable sources for their future.

Samara Ross a student from Good Counsel College Innisfail appreciates the beauty of living in the region, surrounded by the Great Barrier Reef as well as world heritage rain forests.

“Climate change directly impacts both their systems, (Great Barrier Reef and Daintree). We are starting to see some of the effects already with coral bleaching on the reef.

“With out action against climate change, they are only going to get worse.

“With Cairns being a tourist hub, and many livelihoods coming from the Great Barrier Reef, we should make sure we protect these areas,” she said.

Throughout Australia thousands of students left their classrooms on Friday to voice their protest and support for climate change.

In this years’ federal budget, the government allocated tens of millions of dollars into fast tracking the development of the gas-rich Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory. This project is a key pillar underpinning the post-COVID recovery for the Northern Territory.

In the budget over $19 million was allocated to a renewable energy project designed to power the 700 residents of the Daintree,

Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently confirmed the nation remained on track to meet its Paris Agreement target of 26 to 28 percent reduction on the country’s emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. However, he was under increased pressure at a recent Biden global summit to set a more ambitious target.

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