Thousands of schoolchildren across Australia have skipped classes to attend rallies demanding government action on climate change.
By Associated Press Reporters
November 30 2018 7:23 AM
Thousands of schoolchildren across Australia have skipped classes to attend rallies demanding government action on climate change.
Resources minister Matt Canavan said the pupils should be in school learning about science and mining, rather than discovering how to get on welfare.
The co-ordinated rallies were held in close to 30 cities and towns and were inspired by a 15-year-old Swedish girl’s activism.
In Sydney, more than 1,000 children, most in their school uniforms, chanted slogans, while similar numbers blocked streets outside the Victoria state parliament in Melbourne.
The rallies were inspired by Greta Thunberg, who protests every Friday outside Sweden’s parliament, urging leaders to do more about climate change.
Sydney student Siniva Esera told the Sydney rally that Australia needs to be the big brother to the low-lying Pacific islands, including her relatives on the Tokelau atolls.
“Our prime minister thinks we should be in school right now, and maybe we should,” the Chifley College Senior Campus student told protesters.
“But how can I just sit by and not do anything to protect the future of this planet, and as my family on the islands worry about the rising sea level?”
Forest Lodge Primary school captain Lucie Atkin Bolton said she’d learned in class that leaders need to look after everybody and take responsibility when things go wrong.
