By Libby Rouse
You may have noticed a blue ‘Climate Act Now’ flyer in your letter box lately. But what you may not have noticed is that the world’s climatologists, the International Monetary Fund, the Business Council of Australia, the National Farmers Federation are all calling for action on climate change. There is overwhelming consensus that action must be taken now to prevent catastrophic environmental consequences for the people and the planet.
The flyer delivery was organised for a couple of reasons. Firstly to get people to sign the Climate Act Now online petition for government action on climate change and secondly to gauge community sentiment on the topic. Signing the petition requires minimal effort and shows the level of motivation within our community for action on climate change.
Within one week, petition signatures rose by 120 in Farrer and 200 in Indi. This was a higher rise than the previous 8 months but was also after thousands of flyers were delivered across both electorates. Current totals for Farrer and Indi are 392 and 1034 respectively.
Why doesn’t everyone feel compelled to do something about climate change? As individuals we may not have had the best advice available. We may have been fed conspiracy theories by climate change deniers on social media and in the Murdoch press. As a result, we need to dissect fact from fiction. Our busy lives makes this difficult, but that’s when we must listen to expert advice.
Zali Steggall’s Climate Change Bill was tabled in parliament and was referred to the House Standing Committee on Environment and Energy. The proposed legislation is now going to a public inquiry with submissions closing Friday 27th November. The good news is that we can still make our voices heard. Simply sign the online petition, the more signatures the better, or make a formal submission to the committee. Anyone can submit, individuals, groups and organisations.
It’s important to remember that we live in a democratic society. Our politicians are elected to look after our best interests. We trust in them to do right by us. On the issue of climate change this is dramatically true. We must demand great and swift action on this issue because anything else is dangerous to us all. You can sign the Climate Act here: https://join.climateactnow.com.au/
