Greens leader Adam Bandt has recently called for the Australian public to join climate protests in the masses to prevent the Albanese Labor government from reopening fossil fuel mines and power plants amidst a cost of living and energy affordability crisis.
“Now we need to embrace the importance of protest and civil disobedience. We must come together and fight back,” Mr. Bandt said in Melbourne on Aug. 30.
“We might not all want to climb a coal bridge or sit in the foyer of Woodside (Energy), but we need to back the right of people to do so, and celebrate and feel joy from their action.”
Mr. Bandt, speaking at an event organised by activist group Rising Tide, also confirmed he will be joining hundreds of protestors in blockading the Port of Newcastle, one of Australia’s largest and most strategically crucial export hubs, later this year.
The planned event he is referring to is likely to mirror the antics of climate action organisation Blockade Australia in June this year when a number of the group’s demonstrators coordinated efforts to halt the operations at major coal-exporting ports in three different states.
Mr. Bandt is adamant such a style of demonstration is imperative to what he believes to be social and political progress, likening grassroots climate activism to the “types of civil disobedience that have been so crucial throughout history in securing change, from ending slavery to gaining women’s suffrage, from workers’ rights to civil rights.”
The Greens leader’s comments echo the sentiments and teachings of notorious community activist and Marxian political theorist Saul Alinsky.
Renowned for his ability to mobilise progressive activists into large demonstrations, Alinsky believed radical displays of insubordination were necessary to change capitalist societies.
“Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict,” Alinsky wrote in his most famous book, Rules for Radicals, in which he outlines the most effective methods for activists to instigate a shift in the social and political paradigms.
A Supposedly Delayed Transition
What Mr. Bandt, along with many other climate activists, is currently concerned about is the potential for the Albanese Labor government to renege on its election promises to reduce Australia’s emissions by 43 percent come 2030 by commissioning new fossil fuel projects and/or delaying the closure of coal-fired power stations.The government may have to take such a course of action if Australia’s energy prices continue to rise at such an unsustainable rate.
Yesterday, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) released its annual Electricity Statement of Opportunities (ESOO), which this year packages some bold projections for the nation.
The report predicts rolling blackouts, a last resort measure used by utility companies to prevent total blackouts during which outages are only temporary, will occur in both New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria during the summer, with the latter particularly vulnerable. Maximum operational energy demand is typically experienced during summer due to power cooling loads.
Although many claim the rapid inflation in energy prices over the past 18 months has been spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in January 2022, with most of the world experiencing a curtailing of their gas supplies, a realistic assessment of the situation would attribute price hikes to an expedited transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
This became clear after the National Electricity Market (NEM) instantaneously responded to the closure of Liddell Power Station earlier this year, previously one of only five left across the state. Upon its official decommissioning on April 28, AEMO’s figures reveal that the wholesale price of energy per MWh rose by 63.39 percent in NSW alone. In just three days after the plant’s cessation, wholesale energy prices leapt 159.98.
Political Polarisation
Despite evidence of the electricity grid’s sensitivity, many individuals like Mr. Bandt don’t believe the Albanese Government is acting quickly enough to combat anthropogenic climate change and hence intend to resort to demonstrating.Many even purport that governmental legislation regarding protests in Australia is too harsh and that our politicians ought to shift their focus toward reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to sustainable energy sources.
“Rather than taking the urgent measures needed to reduce fossil fuel production, state governments have responded by imposing harsh and disproportionate measures to punish activists,” an Australian researcher at Human Rights Watch wrote.
These comments came in response to laws introduced by the Liberal NSW Government in April last year that reprimand protestors who block roads and ports with up to two years in prison and fines of up to $22,000.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen is alarmed by radical attitudes towards this issue from both sides of the political spectrum.
“50 percent of it is saying there’s no climate emergency, and it’s all a fraud and a hoax, and the other 50 percent says you’re a sellout because you’re not going fast enough,” Mr. Bowen said.
“That’s just the world we live in.”
