Today the Election Roadshow for Climate moved to the big cities, Dunedin and Auckland, after strong starts in Cape Reinga and Bluff on Monday.

Blue sky greeted the Dunedin roadshow crew outside the city’s iconic Railway Station in Dunedin. The South Island roadshow crew, Phil Saxby and Jen Olsen, alongside locals Nick Beekhuis and Jill Corson stood to talk about impacts of climate change and the need for the climate to be on to the election agenda.

“Time is running out worldwide,” says Phil Saxby. “We can’t save the planet on our own, but we can set an example in our region of the Pacific for zero net carbon by 2030. We are calling for a nationwide emergency declaration and a Citizens Assembly on Climate in 2021.”

Local speakers Nick Beekhuis and Jill Corson were applauded for their call for urgent action and a Citizens Assembly on climate. “South Dunedin is already threatened by sea encroachment yet the city is planning a hospital right here, only 2 metres above sea level,” said Nick.

Jill Corson spoke about the need to involve the public in the difficult choices facing this country. “A Citizens Assembly is a way to take controversial issues away from the politicised environment and the short-termism of Parliament”.

On the other end, the Election Roadshow arrives at Devonport Beach to a windy and cloudy afternoon, looking out upon the Hauraki Gulf. Two climate activists spanning over sixty years will welcome the Roadshow – Jill Whitmore, who is 74 years old and been an environmental activist for decades; and Ruby, a 13 year old who has recently begun their activism.
Jill Whitmore, described the current climate situation as, “We are in the final stage of an action story, and you don’t know whether the heroes of the story will survive or not. It is up to us, and we have the power to change what will happen and write the ending.”

Jill continued on to talk about New Zealand’s target net-zero, “Zero emissions by 2050 is way too late and that it needs to be brought forward, even 2030 is too late. We need to get to the net-zero emission by 2025. I know we don’t have a magic wand at our disposal, but we need to act now.”

Ruby, the 13 year old activist, said “We are in the midst of an environmental and youth mental health crisis. These crises are interconnected, and if we continue to destroy the environment, we will continue to destroy the mental and spiritual health of our young people.”

Ruby continued on to say that “I don’t want to be the tokenistic young person in these conversations, and politicians don’t need to see our faces to know this climate crisis will affect us and future generations. The science and evidence is clear, now is not the time to continue to collect evidence to work out if this is a crisis, now is the time for action.”

The Election Roadshow, an initiative of Extinction Rebellion (XR) and supported by Aotearoa Climate Emergency, aims to put climate action on the agenda of the 2020 election.
The Roadshow has the goals of promoting:

  • a declaration of a climate emergency,
  • a Citizens Assembly on climate, such as France and the UK have held this year, and
  • a green, sustainable, economic recovery from the pandemic.

“Over 1400 governance agencies across 30 different countries have declared a climate emergency,” says Mathias Corwin, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion. “In New Zealand, we have 76% of our population living in jurisdictions which have declared a climate emergency. It’s time for us to declare it at a national level.”

“The government has set aside billions of dollars for economic recovery from Covid-19. Every cent of that must be invested in clean infrastructure, green jobs, and helping New Zealand transition away from fossil fuels if we are to have any chance of fulfilling our commitments to end the climate crisis,” said Extinction Rebellion Roadshow member Caril Cowan.

For more information and media enquiries, contact Mathias Corwin, Election Roadshow Media Coordinator at [email protected] or 0204 022 7232.