Closing march for climate campaign

ACTIVISTS from Ballarat’s environmental and green groups took part in a climate march last weekend.

Meeting on Saturday afternoon, the assembly gathered near Civic Hall before moving down Lydiard Street North and finishing outside Town Hall.

The march consisted of members of the Ballarat Climate Action Network, Environment Victoria, Ballarat Trades Union, and Ballarat Renewable Energy and Zero Emissions.

Extinction Rebellion Victoria spearheaded the event and Miriam Robinson, spokesperson for the Ballarat branch, said it marked the closing of their Spring Rebellion campaign.

“Ballarat is the home of rebellion in Victoria. We have a very good team here and there are a lot of important issues in western Victoria,” she said.

“Basically, we’re calling for urgent climate action. We have a State election coming up and though the Victorian Government isn’t the worst when dealing with environment, there’s still issues we want them to address.

“They’re continuing to explore for new gas. They’re building a large gas terminal in Corio Bay. The other important issue is logging and deforestation. There’s also the record flooding in Victoria.

“Climate change isn’t 100 or 50 years away. It’s already started.”

Otway Climate Emergency Action Network founder Lisa Deppeler spoke at the march about seismic testing off Victoria’s coast.

“It’s used by exploration companies to find gas and oil often kilometres deep below the ocean floor,” she said.

“Every single blast, [259 decibels every 10 seconds] kills 1.2 kilometres of zoo plankton… The foundation of biodiversity on our planet.”

Spring Rebellion has consisted of two weeks of protests including a glue-on demonstration at the National Gallery of Victoria’s Picasso exhibition, and a Civil Discobedience street party in Melbourne.