Advocacy day

Today, we brought 25 young people from across the country to Federal Parliament to meet with over 40 Federal MPs to advocate in support of the Duty of Care Bill. In those meetings, we asked the MP to sign a pledge supporting the Duty of Care in principle, which 28 MPs did, including 10 Labor government MPs. Year 6 students, university students from rural Australia, medical students and high schoolers gathered to call on the MPs representing them in Parliament to support the Duty of Care Bill and safeguard their futures from worsening climate change. 

This advocacy day came after the Senate inquiry to the Bill has so far received nearly 400 submissions in support of the Bill, from all corners of Australian society. We had a yoga studio in the outer suburbs of Adelaide run a submissions writing night. We received a submission supporting the Bill from a miner who worked in the coal industry in Central Queensland for 43 years, and is now advocating for a just transition for his colleagues across the country. Several groups of primary school students from all across the country sent in their submissions to parliament as well, which was at once gorgeous and also frightening to see how these kids see the future they will grow up in. What was also frightening was to read through submissions of parents and also people who wanted to be parents but too afraid of the future they’d be leaving their kids to even consider it.

But on a positive note, reading through these submissions, it was so heartening to see that climate action has shifted from something out of a particular corner of politics, or in environmental advocacy groups, to something that a significant number of people care about, even an issue that people will shift their vote on to support. We brought both this optimism and this concern to the evidence we gave at the hearings today - here’s hoping it counts.