A hundred people of all ages and many different walks of life came together on Tuesday travelling up to Canberra to join the Climate Emergency Rally.
The whole political spectrum was represented from former Liberal voters to Greens and Labour supporters. Joining with members of community organisations like Coastwatchers, Shasa, 350.org and Australian Parents for Climate Change they filled two buses from Moruya and Batemans Bay. Others made their own way there.
"One man had lost his home to fire at Cadgee, others had stayed to defend over the fire season, and many had been evacuated several times," said one of the Eurobodalla attendees.
"80% of Eurobodalla Shire has been burnt.
"These South Coast residents are convinced that the warming climate has contributed to the drought and recent disastrous bushfires and are even more concerned it will get worse if leaders don’t accept the science.
"Deciding it was important to stand up for their children, grandchildren, native animals and the environment they took their concerns to the Federal government on the first day of sitting for the year.
Many of those attending agreed that Climate change has increased global temperatures making 2019 the hottest, driest yea and that the drought was made worse and the fires more extreme.
One of the convoy participants said "Onboard the buses the Climate Change Choir taught participants songs and sea shanties on the journey.
"But the singing stopped after Nelligen as the bus climbed up the Kings Hwy and the results of just one degree of global warming became terribly clear.
"The devastation of the recent fires became obvious as thousands of burnt out hectares, devoid of life lined the road.
At the rally the south coast contingent joined 2,500 people listening to speakers like Bob Brown, indigenous leader Uncle Bruce Shillingsworth, Sophie Taylor Price, who is Bob Hawke’s grand-daughter and former Liberal Party leader John Hewson.
The day ended on a positive note with science broadcaster Dr Karl Kruszelnicki pointing out that “the answers (to a warming climate) are there, we just have to listen to them”.
Photos by Gilliane Tedder
