Extinction Rebellion have made themselves seen and heard in Albury.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The climate change activists converged on the main intersection of Dean Street on Saturday for the "first of many" protests.
Holding placards in the air, drawing dead fish on the road in chalk and lying on the ground were just a few of the actions the group of more than 120 people did during the 25 second pedestrian lights at the Kiewa Street intersection.
Priding themselves on being "non-disruptive" the group ran on and off the road during multiple rounds of lights only holding up traffic for a few seconds at a time.
Organiser Eli Davern said the action was about Extinction Rebellion having a presense in Albury.
"We are here, we are organised and we want to be heard," he told The Border Mail.
"Chalk is easily removable, non-vandalism type action and the dead fish represent the extinction that will occur as a result of climate change.
IN OTHER NEWS:
"We are getting off the road to ensure no one is being disrupted and it is a very light-hearted and fun display of action."
The 16-year-old said the group of protesters came from all walks of life.
"We have around 120 people here and it is really important to stress that unlike stereotypes not everyone here is your typical protester, we have people here who are typically conservative that are just passionate about climate change," he said.
"We also have young people here like myself who understand that climate change is going to affect our generation more than any other so I think we have a great showing of support from all different types of people."
The action was planned during the busiest time of the day with many Christmas shoppers and families out enjoying the centre of town.
Police were also on hand after being told by the group.
"It isn't typical for groups like us to tell police prior to protests like this, but we really wanted to be peaceful and let them know what we were doing," he said.
"There will be more planned actions but I want to stress that we understand our community and we know that disrupting people isn't going to be well received so we will have more protests but they will be non-disruptive like this one."
Eli said Extinction Rebellion have three demands.
"One, to tell the truth, which Sussan Ley has done she has told the truth about a climate emergency in response to the bush fires," he said.
"Two is to act now by declaring a climate emergency and working to halt biodiversity loss and three is to go beyond politics and to announce a citizens assembly to guide the parliament on issues relating to climate change."