Communities affected by Cyclone Alfred dumped flood damaged belongings outside Queensland Parliament on March 20 and demanded action to prevent future climate disasters.
Speakers from Hervey Bay, Mt Tamborine, Northern Rivers, Gold Coast and Magan-djin shared powerful stories of the cost to ordinary people and their communities, as governments fail to sufficiently plan for climate resilience and a fair and quick transition to renewable energy.
“Enough is enough,” said Aunty Barb Pershouse, a Badjala, Woppaburra, Torres Strait Islander (Badu Island) woman from Hervey Bay.
“I have never seen anything like the cyclones that have affected my Country and neighbouring Countries this month,” she said in a media statement.
“This has been building up for many years due to the increase of temperatures of the water due to climate change,” she added.
“As mob, we are Country. When Country is sick, so are we. We need to act now and protect our waterways and marine ecosystems, or we will lose everything that has fed us and our souls. Mining, fracking and corporate greed must end now.”
Marie, from the Kumbumerri/Gold Coast, said that families and communities deserve to thrive, not just limp from one climate-fuelled disaster to the next. She had to shelter in place with her family for five days through torrential rain and wind during Cyclone Alfred.
“I don’t want anyone else to go through what our family and community went through,” she said.
“It was incredibly stressful and scary ... trees fell on our street and the neighbour’s house, bringing down power lines close to our home. We had six days without power, five days without school, and two days without water or reliable communication with my Mum in hospital. None of that was normal for a weather event on the Gold Coast.”
Twenty-one-year-old Moss from Budjalung country/Northern Rivers spoke about the compounding effects of floods, drought and bushfires on their community. They said that “the climate crisis is the biggest crisis facing society” and that we need a “polluter pays” recovery system.
“Our communities continue to struggle with the cost-of-living crisis, the mental health crisis and the housing crisis. We can’t accept empty promises of hope any longer. The physical and emotional trauma caused by the effects of climate change and unnatural disasters, exacerbated by inaction from our governments, leaves our youth hopeless and giving up.”
Seven wheelbarrows of flood-damaged belongings were dumped at parliament’s gates. The crowd sang as the belongings were unloaded “People gonna rise like the water, to save our homes and future”.
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