Calling out climate denial, a one-year-old’s birthday party, an ongoing hunger strike and even some genuine politicians all came together at Parliament today to mark the end of Extinction Rebellion’s Roadshow for Climate.
After visiting more than 20 different cities and towns from Cape Reinga to the Bluff, the roadshow crews were weary but proud of helping put the climate and ecological emergency into voters’ minds ahead of what many see as a “last chance” election to avoid disaster.
The crews gathered on Parliament Lawn by the Richard Seddon statue and were joined by activists from the local chapter of Extinction Rebellion, as well as Fridays For Future and E Tu For Future activists.
Among them, baby Florry and her mother, celebrating her first birthday while already being taught to keep an eye on the future – one that could be bleak unless our government begins to treat this crisis as the emergency it is.
Politicians from a range of parties were present to hear Extinction Rebellion’s plea for declaring a climate emergency and holding a Citizens’ Assembly on climate next year, among them Greens co-leader James Shaw and local candidate Teal Crossan.
Jessica Hammond, TOP’s candidate for Ohariu, gave an impassioned speech saying she wants to be able to tell her daughter, who will be 40 in 2050, that she contributed to “keeping the planet liveable” rather than having to apologise for a world that is in chaos.
“TOP is all about following the evidence,” says Jessica. “The science is incredibly clear – we are facing a climate crisis and we need to bring our fossil fuel emissions down to zero as fast as we possibly can. We can do this if we listen to experts and follow the evidence.”
Jessica agrees that there is a need to re-evaluate the democratic process when it comes to implementing climate solutions, and supports the idea of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate.
“We signed up to the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 when I had just finished highschool. We have been kicking the climate change can down the road for my entire adult life. We haven’t been taking this seriously and we’ve been making this someone else’s problem. The more we put it off, the bigger the problem is becoming. We’re kicking our children and our grandchildren, and I’m not sure how those people who’ve kicked the can down the road can live with themselves knowing that. We need to strengthen our democracy to get the kind of changes we need.”
Unfortunately due to Wellington’s windy reception the roadshow were unable to perform the theatre skit they’d organised, but the enthusiastic crowd of about 100 didn’t seem to mind.
Wrapping up the tour, North Island crew member Dot Austin said it was “inspiring” to see the reaction from people at each stop as they travelled their way down the island, and praised the “warmth and concern” of those they’d interacted with.
