#Brisbane #Meanjin peeps!

Don't forget the rally for climate change action this Thursday 17th Aug from 8am to 9:30am at the Convention Centre.

It's the Labor National Conference and several groups have united for this action: Move Beyond Coal, 350.org, Lock The Gate... I've also seen the Extinction Rebellion advertising it along roadsides.

https://www.movebeyondcoal.com/timesuplabor

#ClimateChange #auspol #Labor #LaborParty #ClimateCrisis #MoveBeyondCoal #350org #LockTheGate #ExtinctionRebellion #XR

So a dozen pious protesters did some kind of pray-in (like a sit-in, but with less shouting/more meditation) at the main Sydney building of #NAB (one of Australia's 'Big Four' banks). They were trying to get a meeting with the CEO or relevant executive to discuss NAB's ongoing financing of #coal expansion in Australia.

After a bit, #NSWpolice warned them they were trespassing and told them to go. They kept praying/chanting. So one by one they were extracted from the foyer and ejected onto the pavement outside.

Apparently, there have been a whole bunch of protests this week targeting NAB's #coal financing (including even the awful #WhitehavenCoal). Few of them have got much/any media and it looked like this action was similar. I can see social media posts, but didn't notice any coverage in mainstream Oz press.

Anyway, here's my question: is this kind of thing effective? A waste of time? Does it actually change corporate decisions or public discourse? Is it misdirected? Inspired? Should these greenie god-botherers be making a whip and overturning the tables of the moneylenders?
(See here for reference: https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=547666433)

#NoNewCoal #ClimateJustice #CivilDisobedience #BankrollingClimateCatastrophe #MoveBeyondCoal #interfaith

*Very late notice*

I've just discovered that there is a #rally today at 12pm in Sydney CBD, outside the Hilton Hotel (488 George St).

It is protesting the ongoing (though now less transparently acknowledged) funding of new #coal projects by the #BigFour Australian banks (#NAB, #ANZ, #CBA and #Westpac), specifically NAB's funding for #WhitehavenCoal. The location is where AFR's Banking Summit is being held.

The protest is jointly organised by #350.orgAustralia and #MoveBeyondCoal, in partnership with other groups too, I believe.

More details here:
https://www.movebeyondcoal.com/rally_big_4_banks_are_funding_climate_chaos_cmvm

This afternoon I went to the #MoveBeyondCoal protest outside NAB HQ in Melbourne. I was doing outreach, handing out leaflets to passersby.

Me: Would you like to know why we're here today?
Teenagers: Sure
Me: We're asking NAB to stop funding Whitehaven coal mines.
Teenagers: Fuck coal.
Me: Oh, are you here for the protest?
Teenagers: Well, we are now.

They stayed for the whole thing.

#NotAnotherDollar #Whitehaven #NAB