SYDNEY, Feb 24 2020 – A swathe of Australian actors, musicians, athletes and bushfire survivors are urging the prime minister to sever ties with the coal industry and embrace clean energy to ease the climate crisis and prevent a repeat of this summer’s unprecedented bushfires.
Over the past six months Australians have felt the devastation that comes from failing to act on the climate crisis – 17 million hectares of our country has burnt, over a billion animals have perished, and the tragic loss of life and property is immeasurable.
This is the cost of doing nothing: an ecological and economic disaster for a badly damaged Australia that continues burning coal and fossil fuels as it falls behind the rest of the world.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison still has no credible emissions or energy policy and has tried to shift the blame to others, but Australians will not allow him to ignore the reality of the climate emergency any longer.
Scott Morrison: this an intervention.
Speaking alongside bushfire survivors in an intervention-style video message, celebrities including actor Simon Baker and musician Julia Stone urge the PM “to reduce the risk of future disasters by moving to renewable energy”, imploring the leader to reflect on the world he will leave for his children if he continues to fail on climate action.
Bushfire survivors ask the PM: “You’re a family man; what sort of world do you want your daughters growing up in?”
“Australian communities are being devastated by unprecedented fires, extreme droughts, and flash flooding,” more survivors say, led by radio personality Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald.
Actor Simon Baker adds this is “all made worse by climate change”.
In the collective intervention video, released alongside the contributors’ personal videos, celebrities and survivors of the devastating bushfire season implore Mr Morrison to act so Australia stops “falling behind the rest of world”.
“Other countries are leading the charge and we need to act now,” they say.
“It’s no longer ok to do the bare minimum. You wouldn’t want this for your family. And you wouldn’t expect that from us.”
The collective call-out offers hope, even from those who lost everything in the bushfires, by extending an olive branch to Morrison and an appeal for salvation after a “black summer” of devastation.
“This is less about blame, division, and fear,” says surfer Aaron More.
”And more about change, unity, and leadership,” adds AFL player Dyson Heppell.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific Senior Campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said the “Dear Scotty” intervention video offered the Prime Minister a chance to redeem himself by acting in the interests of bushfire victims and the wider Australian community.
“For too long, the Federal response to climate change has been dragged down by the dead hand of the fossil fuel lobby, which has far too much influence on Australian politics,” Mr Pelle said.
“People have lost their lives, families have lost their homes, and koalas have burnt alive all over Australia. In our cities, our kids have at times been forced to breathe the most polluted air in the world. Everyone is feeling the impacts of this coal-fueled bushfire crisis and we need Scott Morrison to act for their future and the future of all Australians.”
Notes
Downloadable Dear Scotty videos and production notes
Contact
Greenpeace Australia Pacific Communications Campaigner, Nicholas McCallum
0422 698 970