ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
The majority of Australians support action on climate change, a recent report has found.
None want action more than the members of our community that protest in the streets. Their passion for protecting the future of this planet and their dedication to the mission is admirable.
At its core, the climate protestors are trying to change things for the better.
But whether it be due to the media or their own personal actions, the various climate change protest movements around the country have managed to paint themselves as people hellbent on disrupting the lives of ordinary Australians who are just trying to go about their business.
That alone has made them as popular as the parking rangers who patrol a Children’s’ Hospital carpark.
Their messaging is somehow worse than Labor’s was during the election. At Labor’s core, their policy of taxing the rich and pouring billions into education and healthcare was popular. Their plan to tackle climate change and force the banks to play ball was met with polite smiles and gentle nods.
But the message didn’t get through.
The Advocate spoke to Dr Chris MacGillion from the South Betoota Polytechnic College’s prestigious School of Political Science about the messaging put forward from the climate protestors and Labor.
He explained that while they both embody what most Australians agree with, that alone is not enough.
“These climate extinction people have terrible messaging. Do they think the media will treat them fairly because that’s the good and proper thing to do?”
“They’re smart kids, I hope they don’t believe that. But ruining the commute of some downtrodden cog in this capitalistic hellscape of a wristwatch we all live in is not the way to make people care about what you have to say,”
“Do something cool like blow up a dam or derail a couple of iron ore trains. Don’t glue yourself to a train or a road. Like Labor should’ve come out and said something like ‘we’re going to kill half a billionaire at random if we get elected,’ or similar. That would’ve been fun and innovative. Good messaging.”
More to come.
