Rising Tide Protesters Dragged From Future Victoria Summit after Disrupting Prime Minister’s Albanese Speech
Climate protestors from Rising Tide interrupted the Prime Minister’s keynote speech today at the Future Victoria Summit at Melbourne Crown Casino. They demanded an end to new coal and gas projects. 18 year old, Myles Wilkinson, unfurled a banner that said “No New Coal and Gas”. Speaking directly to Anthony Albanese, he asked, “Why are you selling my future to gas companies in the Otway basin?”.
A second protestor, Nell Sudano, lives 4km from Harcourt, a township devastated by bushfires last month. Addressing the Prime Minister, Ms Sudano said, “Prime Minister, we came so close to being the next Marysville,” referencing a town reduced to ash in the Black Saturday bushfires. Ms Sudano continued, “The polluters should be paying for the social and environmental damage of the climate crisis, not communities.”
An estimated 600 people were in attendance at the Future Victoria Summit, which was also filmed live by Sky News.
Photos and videos of the disruption can be found here.
18-year-old Myles Wilkinson, said:
“I’m supposed to have my whole future ahead of me. But instead I’m staring down a future of extreme heat, bushfires, floods, food and water shortage.
“It is nonsensical that even when we are on our way to 2 degrees of warming, the Government is still approving gas leases in the Otway basin.
“I'm scared of a future of droughts, floods and bushfires, and the Albanese government seems to be ok with gas companies taking the piss.”
Nell Sudano, said:
“The Albanese government’s own climate report says that we must act now. Instead, they are propping up coal and gas. If we want a liveable future, then we must act now, the next generation will be too late.
“The polluters should be paying for the social and environmental damage, not communities.”
Background:
Rising Tide is a nation-wide movement demanding no new coal and gas projects and a 78% tax on coal export profits to support workers transitioning out of the fossil fuel industry. Rising Tide’s annual blockade of Newcastle Coal Port, the world’s largest coal port, draws thousands of Australians concerned by governments’ continued support of the fossil fuel industry.
This latest protest comes after the Albanese government opened 2.5 million hectares of ocean in the Otway Basin for gas exploration in December last year. In the last two years, Coastal Victorian communities have consistently expressed opposition to the expansion of offshore gas projects. The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) recently rejected a proposed gas exploration project off Victoria’s South West coast after 15,000 public submissions and a sustained campaign against the proposal. In 2024, intense community opposition led data giant TGS and drilling company SLB to abandon plans to survey the Southern Ocean using seismic blasting.
The Albanese government has approved 35 new coal and gas projects over their two terms. According to recent polling by the Lowly Institute, 59% of Australians support “banning new coal mines from opening in Australia”. Despite this support, neither major party has plans to stop approving new coal and gas projects. Australia is a signatory to the Paris Agreement, which commits signatories to keep warming below 1.5 degrees. Global temperatures from the last three years have already averaged 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels. Further fossil fuel approvals are not consistent with Australia’s commitments under the Paris Agreement.
It comes a day after protestors from Extinction rebellion disrupted the Carbon Capture and Storage conference at the RACV Club in Naarm/Melbourne.
PHOTO CREDIT: Daily Mail