Geraldton students skip school to demand “immediate action on climate change” for national protest

Calls to action could be heard along the Geraldton Foreshore last Friday when a crowd of passionate young people participated in a national climate strike.

About 70 locals attended the School Strike 4 Climate event at Stow Gardens on Friday, with the crowd hearing from several speakers about why they believed it was important for them to skip class. Student Dusty Morgan, 14, said: “I have an obligation to fight for what is right and stand up for what I stand on — our Earth.”

Geraldton Youth Regeneration Organisation member Lucy Murdoch, 17, outlined the origins of the School Strike 4 Climate initiative in Australia, saying the movement started when a group of Castlemaine teenagers took the day off school to promote a “safe climate future”.

“They gained huge support and media attention and since then, the movement has grown into a highly successful student-led organisation that has achieved incredible outcomes, capturing the attention of the nation,” she said. “Today we are striking to let the Federal Government know that our generation wants immediate action on climate change and that we will continue to strike until we are heard.”

But not all Geraldton residents were supportive of the strike.

Some said the protestors “should be in school” and one woman was heard telling her children to “look at the stupid people” while they marched along the foreshore.

The students did not let the hecklers stop them and proudly chanted: “When planet Earth is under attack what do we do? Stand up, fight back.”

The Geraldton event was one of hundreds organised across Australia as part of School Strike 4 Climate.