- In short: Police have arrested and fined 72 climate activists [$385 each] for staging a protest in the middle of a Melbourne CBD intersection.
- Demonstrators from the group Extinction Rebellion say they have tried less-invasive forms of protest to make governments listen to their concerns, but they have not been heard.
- What’s next? The group is planning further disruptive action for March next year.
It was the fourth consecutive day of action by Extinction Rebellion demonstrators, culminating in a rally outside Flinders Street Station at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston streets.
The protesters are calling on the federal government to reduce carbon emissions. Many who attended the rally came prepared to be arrested, saying their actions were a last resort.
I’m of two minds on it: I see their point on targeting regular people, they’re the ones who vote in the politicians.
But, when you randomly stop people like this, you don’t know what harm you might be doing. It might only be annoying, or you might be the cause of someone losing a job, being late to see some specialist they waited six months to see, I’ve seen these protesters refuse to move for an ambulance in London, that’s possibly the difference between life and death.
While I acknowledge their exasperation, I don’t think this action will bring any positive change to the discussion. Unfortunately, I don’t know what will.
I think this is some serious whataboutism. It’s not a centralised movement, and the actions of some cunts over in the UK doesn’t reflect on this group here in Melbourne. I’ve been to a lot of left-leaning protests in my time here, and it’s a pretty universal rule never to fuck with Ambos.
I’m sorry, but it really does. If you’re going to give yourselves the same name and employ the same tactics, you have to acknowledge that you’ll be considered by the public as the same group. Hence “these protesters” in my comment. If you don’t want to be seen as the same people, don’t call yourselves Extinction Rebellion.
This is coming from someone sympathetic to the cause.
So… Critical thinking and logic shouldn’t apply to the lay person then? The government in the UK reflects on our actions here?
But we’re splitting hairs here. The point of disruption is to stir up conversation and keep the issue front and centre. We’re in the middle of a climate crisis. Our quality of life is trending downwards. Interrupting the public comes after scientists giving hard facts to the world that have been largely ignored for decades.
They’re causing harm to people, and making enemies of voters instead of making allies. The person driving to their daughter’s wedding, or to the hospital, or even just everyone going to work on a normal day, can’t do anything about this stuff except for vote on ballots and with their wallets. How do the activists think the average person is going to vote on an issue that they now associate with being blocked in traffic? Sure, the person should be smart enough to understand that the issue is important regardless of who is promoting it, but that’s not how a lot of people operate. If the protestors insist on inconveniencing people, they need to inconvenience people actually responsible for fixing the problem, not some random person going about the necessities of life.