Reflections on the 21 May Climate Strike

Last Friday saw the long-awaited return of the School Strike 4 Climate protest movement since the COVID-19 pandemic forced a shutdown of major public gatherings. The protest followed hot on the heels of the Federal Government’s budget announcement the week before, which made new commitments to fossil fuel projects, including $58 million towards expanding the gas industry and their continued refusal to commit to carbon neutrality by 2050. Within this context, the passion of the protestors came as no surprise.

And so the day arrives. Trainloads of enthusiastic demonstrators pour onto the sidewalks –  their freshly painted, witty signs in hand. Over breakfast, we learnt of the temporary suspension of hostilities in occupied Palestine and became filled with a brief optimism; maybe everything will be okay. The sun shines down through the gaps in the towering city skyline, warming and invigorating us.

The University contingent sets off from the State Library, rhythmically chanting down Swanston Street as passers-by pause for a moment: it’s been a while since the city stopped like this. We turn left onto Collins Street and come face-to-face with the BHP building. BHP is the world’s 19th-largest corporate polluter and was responsible for one of the worst environmental disasters in Brazil: the 2015 Bento Rodriguez tailings dam collapse, in which 19 people were killed and more than 50 injured.

At the end of Collins Street, we arrived at Treasury Gardens, and the true scale of this protest became clear. Here are the rest of the marchers: Extinction Rebellion, The Australian Education Union, and countless thousands of school students, all fired up and ready to go.

And now the march begins in earnest. Some of the activists are young and have taken the day off from their studies in order to be here. Others are old, and their support reminds us that even those who may not be around to witness the worst impacts of anthropogenic climate change are still motivated to make a difference. There are people here from all walks of life, and we are all enveloped in an insuperable feeling of being a part of something bigger than ourselves. The city is swept up in an all-consuming wave. Construction workers stop and stare, office workers hurry their late lunches and reach for their phones to record the moment, police officers direct commuters away from the cordoned off roads, and the voices through the megaphones spur us on.

As I walk back towards Flinders Street Station at the end of the day, I am overwhelmed by the sudden quiet. Perhaps the city is taking some time to reflect on the afternoon’s lessons. I pass a busker strumming a cover of The Beatles’ 1969 hit, Don’t Let Me Down. A simple request, on the face of it, and yet for too long we have been let down by our government’s refusal to act on the advice of climate scientists the world over.

So on reflection, what can be said of the day’s events?

To begin, the hype of once again being amongst a sea of like-minded activists was a deeply moving and incomparable experience. People from all over Melbourne came together to show the government that they will not be standing idly by as their tax dollars continue to line the pockets of climate criminals. After having had to wait for restrictions to ease throughout the last year, Friday’s protest was filled with a refreshed enthusiasm and an addicting feeling of possibility.

Yes, it is unbearably infuriating that all these years later, despite overwhelming evidence, the Morrison government continues to prevaricate on enacting meaningful climate change policies. Yes, we all remain terrified by the prospect of a 2ºC warming of the Earth and the ecological, social, and economic collapses that this implies. And yes, we are agonised by the presence of Rio Tinto on LTU’s Bundoora Campus. And yet, on the streets on Friday, we were all reminded of the power of the individual. That no matter how immovable the walls of climate denialism may seem, there still exists – as strong as ever – the unstoppable train of ambitious activism and civil disobedience.

Friday’s protest was the nation’s biggest since the pandemic began, and it shows that despite, and in some ways because of, the year-long pause, Australians are as ready as ever to hold their government to account. We can only hope that those in power hear our continued requests for sense.