FOR 18-year-old Wodonga Senior Secondary College student Lucy Tan, inaction on climate change is a source of constant frustration.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It's why she, along with roughly 60 other school students from Albury, Wodonga and even as far away as Beechworth, walked off campus on Thursday.
Students right across the country took similar action as part of the Schools Strike Against Climate Change, in a bid to convince politicians to take more decisive action on the issue.
Nationwide, the campaign had three goals; stopping the Adani coalmine, halt any other new coal or gas mines, and for Australia's energy supply to be 100% renewable by 2030.
Miss Way said inaction on climate change would ultimately prove costly.
“The people in power aren’t doing enough,” she said.
“It blows my mind every day that it’s a radical thing to believe in climate change, even in Australia.”
RELATED:
Students from a variety of schools, including from as far away as Beechworth Secondary College, turned up to the protest, which was not without controversy.
A group of Albury High students told the assembled crowd, during an audience participation segment of the speeches, that teachers had informed them they ran the risk of suspension for attending the strike.
The Border Mail sought to confirm whether this was the case with the NSW Department of Education, but did not receive a response before deadline.
Albury deputy mayor Amanda Cohn attended the strike, as did her Wodonga counterpart Kat Bennett.
Cr Cohn said it was good to see young people taking a stand for what they believe in.
“I think it’s fantastic to see so many young people taking an interest in democracy and standing up for the better future they want to secure for their own generation,” she said.
“It’s obvious that climate change is being talked about across a huge cross-section of the community, it’s not an issue for one section of the people, it’s an issue for all of those different schools and townships, and is something that affects us all.”
While impressed with the working group’s ability to get the strike off the ground, Cr Cohn said it was disappointing to hear Albury High students had been told they risked suspension to attend.
“It’s disappointing to hear that there are people in positions of power who have discouraged young people from standing up for themselves and having a voice in their own democracy,” she said.
“I consider active democratic participation to be really important and something we should be encouraging.”