Along with eight other Lismore flood survivors, I dumped a pile of destroyed possessions on Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s doorstep at Kirribilli House on March 21.
When the megaflood hit us, I spent seven hours on a small boat cruising Lismore, dragging my neighbours out of their submerged homes to safety.
Tragically, one of my elderly neighbours could not be saved and lost her life. My own home went under, up to the roof. I lost everything except my clothes and car and now I’m homeless.
For too long Morrison has denied and delayed climate action and been a puppet of the fossil fuel lobby. The day before he staged a photo op in the midst of our clean-up and suffering in Lismore, his government was bragging about keeping its “foot on the accelerator” of funding new fossil fuel projects.
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This has to stop. We’re demanding that Morrison and all federal MPs immediately commit to:
• Redirect all fossil fuel funding to support climate disaster survivors and build climate resilience in our communities;
• Slash Australia’s climate pollution in the next term of government; and
• Ban political donations from fossil fuel interests.
We know we’re in a climate emergency and these have to be the most basic first steps to solving it.
But we can’t win this by ourselves. We need a national movement to stand with us and amplify our voice. My community has been devastated by these floods and we need to take action now.
[Dee is a flood survivor from Lismore. School Strike for Climate is organising a national protest on March 25. Find an event near you and join it.]