12/09/2021
I’m an older white man, 64, a baby boomer. I’ve had a full life, never thought much about Duty of Care. When I finished school in the 70’s it seemed the world was ready and waiting for me to extract as much fun and inspiration as I could from it. Our generation was extracting fossil fuels and other resources to power our needs as we created an internet culture and a whole lot of digital fun. All the while nature kept absorbing those emissions as we ate meat from cows and chickens raised in feed lots, and had our fun. We taught our kids to expect this kind of fun , after all it was cheap! Extracted from the earth and produced on a large scale.
We were warned, but we ignored the danger and two weeks ago when the United Nation’s IPCC report came out, the report said that due to our extraction and fun, we have 30 years of chaotic climate events coming. Fires floods, storms, heatwaves and more. Whoops! Sorry everybody [especially you younger generations] we made a mistake. Please forgive us.
Here’s where Duty of Care comes in. I believe our generation should say, “We care about the future of our kids. Let’s take on the recommendations of the climate scientists and make the changes we need to cut our emissions and mitigate the damage done.
I decided I had a Duty of Care to do something about the Climate Crisis. After covid closed down my small business for a while, I joined with others in Extinction Rebellion [XR]. I was called to Canberra for our recent “burning pram” action. I found myself with a team of smart experienced activists strategising to disrupt business as usual and send a strong clear message to the government: Duty of Care. It’s time to stop giving Billions of tax payers dollars to the fossil fuel industry and transition to a clean energy future. Now.
Part of our nonviolent direct action plan was to actually go to prison as Martin Luther King and his friends had done. Our first action blocked traffic in Canberra and looked dramatic but didn’t attract much media and the magistrate just sent us home. It was as if the powers that be didn’t want our actions to be noticed.
So we escalated , our second and third actions got more and more cheeky and brave, but still, the media and the courts brushed them off like they were unimportant. So with a pram we found on the side of the road and we executed the “burning pram” action at Parliament House and the Lodge.This Action was well timed as the IPCC report had just come out and Sussan Ley’s “Duty of Care” appeal was fresh. The media captured it well and the magistrate sent us to prison. Mission accomplished.
Prison was a bit of a shock. The guards had told the prisoners to give us a hard time before we walked into the 40 man cell block because they resented us disrupting their business as usual. The inmates were resentful of us coming in for just one week while they were stuck there for years. We were 4 of the male protesters. 2 older, 2 younger. Dr. Nick Abel, our 77 year old climate scientist was treated with respect , and as we all moved amongst the men, as friendly and fearless as we could pretend to be, their anger faded and we all started to respect one another.
We were there for a week, surviving, reflecting, playing cards, making friends, avoiding trouble. It’s an experience I’ll remember for the rest of my life, and I’d do it again, especially now that we must act quickly to avoid catastrophic climate chaos. The Government continues to drag it’s heals. XR is planning more Canberra actions in October. Join us. It’s Fun!
Duty of Care. Get some chalk and write “Duty of Care” on footpaths and public surfaces. Chalk is legal. And ask yourself this question? What does a good citizen do at this time in history to act on our Duty of Care for our children, for our Future, for our Planet Earth ?
Extinction Rebellion set fire to a pram today in front of Parliament House. Causing a rumpus.
https://www.9news.com.au/videos/national/protests-outside-parliament-house-following-climate-change-report/cks5g3p2j00090hqd66iig8kt
