Climate emergency - responding to the crisis at hand.
This speech was delivered on the lawns of Parliament House, Canberra, 4th February 2020, at the People's Climate Assembly Rally.
It was inspired by the weekend prior, when I had traveled to Kangaroo Valley to see the destruction wrought by the bushfires. I have no words to convey the pain and trauma of witnessing the endless miles of apparent wasteland. There is a pain deep in my heart and an anger not yet processed.
I no longer refer to climate change. Instead, I speak of our changing climate.
For the topic at hand is no longer a scientific theory, or an abstract challenge of the future for others to deal with.
It is here. It is now. It is us. Our climate is changing, and it’s our collective problem to solve.
If a price was to be paid in order to wake us up to the urgency of action, let us consider it paid. It has been paid in our homes, our safety, our livelihoods, our village streets and our wildlife. It has been paid in the lives of our citizens.
We have been naive. We have been petulant. We have been indifferent. We have bullied and mocked those who stand up for what is right, or worse we have simply watched. I say, no more.
While my grandfather was relentlessly dogged in his advocacy for climate action, in his last months there was a deep sadness in his heart as he thought we were failing. If he were here these past months he would have wept. He would have wept for the failure of our nation, and would have wept for his brothers and sisters who have lost homes and lives.
This weekend past I went to kangaroo valley to see it for myself. I saw that this was not like other fires. There was nothing but dust and ash and charcoal. There were no birds. No ants. No bees. No sound. Just destruction. I wept as he would have done, feeling that it may never recover. It may never be the same again.
We as a nation have been changed by this. 2020 is the year the tide must turn. And I have so much hope. But We MUST be doggedly optimistic, as my grandfather once was.
Many people here today are wisened climate warriors, who have fought a long and thankless battle. Let’s us give them hope. Let us not be silent, lets us turn up in numbers. Let us rage in our classrooms, our boardrooms and our streets. Let us be a voice of change. It is time. It is time to acknowledge that we are fundamentally failing to respond to the crisis at hand. It is time to declare a climate emergency.
The runway that we have left to avert further disaster is quickly running out, but redemption is possible. We need to show leadership. We need to rapidly transition to a lower carbon future. We have all witnessed that there is a clear and present threat, and the science does tell us that this is not going away... it will get worse. If we don't take immediate action more bush will burn, more wildlife will perish. More homes will be destroyed. Tourism will falter and our economy of yesteryear will flounder. More people will die.
The cost of inaction is beyond our financial or our moral means.
The people in the building behind me have the power to break the status quo. If we look beyond party lines, action is possible. I call on all members to support the declaration of a climate emergency, so that we as a nation can respond to the crisis at hand with the urgency our burning land deserves.
