Last Friday students from all over Australia staged a nation-wide day of protest against public funds being invested in new coal, oil and gas projects as part of Australia's coronavirus recovery.
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Hundreds of socially-distanced protests were held from Cairns to Bunbury, including one in Scotts Head.
A small group of local adults came together in solidarity with the striking schoolchildren.
Some of the people gathered around the central shopping area in Scotts Head said they were concerned the "unelected" National COVID-19 Coordination Commission was "stacked" with executives from mining, oil, and gas companies with obvious vested interests.
"Australia is the third largest exporter of fossil fuels," Wendy Kaczan said.
"Climate change used to be something to worry about in the future. But I think the events of last year have proved that's no longer the case and we need to do something now."
This time last year student-led climate strikes around the country produced some of the largest rally numbers this country has ever recorded.
COVID posed an obvious challenge this year, and in the interest of public health, many protest organisers encouraged students to inundate the offices of Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg with phone calls, instead of gathering in public.
Their list of demands included using recovery funds to resource:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led solutions that guarantee land rights and care for country
- The creation of jobs that fast-track solutions to the climate crisis and help communities recover
- Projects that transition our economy and communities to 100% renewable energy by 2030, through expanded public ownership