Australia hit the streets to protest amid the bushfire crisis. Here are the best signs.
Thousands of Australians took to the streets in nine cities in Australia on Friday to protest the government's inaction on climate change and the bushfire crisis.
Bushfires have so far ravaged more than 6.3 million hectares, killing 27 people. Millions of animals have died, at least one animal species is feared extinct, and ecologists are concerned the rainforest may never grow back.
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has faced widespread criticism from the public for his ineffectual response to the ever-worsening bushfire crisis and his government's climate policies. Notably, his decision to go on holiday to Hawaii last month as the bushfires continued to blaze caused mass outrage.
You May Also Like
On Friday, Australians voted with their feet and marched in cities across the countries urging their PM to resign. The protests — which took place in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth — were organised by the national student climate organisation, Uni Students for Climate Justice. Several of the protests operated with the motto of "Sack Scomo".
Here's a look at some of the best signs from the protests.
"Maybe if it was called Father Nature, you'd give a shit," reads one sign.
"We're protesting this Friday because we're outraged about our government's criminal negligence about the bushfire crisis, exacerbated by climate change," Uni Students for Climate Justice wrote on its Facebook page.
"We are protesting to give a voice to the tens of thousands of people who want real action on climate change and real funding for relief services," the group added.
The protesters have five key demands: relief and aid for bushfire-affected communities, money for firefighters, land and water sovereignty for indigenous people, an urgent transition to renewable energy, as well as a transition for fossil fuel workers.
Some of the signs urged Morrison to resign, while others referenced his recent trip to Hawaii with his family.
Other signs focused on the wildlife devastation wreaked by the bushfires.
"I want you to act like your house is on fire because it is," reads one sign at the Sydney protest, citing Greta Thunberg's Davos speech.
Scientists are linking the increase in the severity of bushfires to climate change. For many years, scientists have warned about climate change's impact on Australian fire seasons.
Back in 2008, a major independent study projected that fire seasons "will start earlier, end slightly later, and generally be more intense". Prescient if not extremely worrying.
Topics Activism Social Good
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
