Canterbury Bankstown will support climate change strike in Sydney
Canterbury Bankstown Council is backing next month’s global climate change rally, with a councillor revealing why she ‘was surprised to see it being passed unanimously’.
The Express
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Councillor Linda Eisler was surprised when Canterbury Bankstown Council overwhelmingly backed her call to join the Global Strike for climate change in Sydney on September 20.
The motion, tabled at Tuesday night’s council meeting, urges the federal and state governments to take urgent action on climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Labor-dominated council has five Liberal members, with Ms Eisler being the sole Greens representative.
“When the motion was put out, I asked the councillors twice if there were any objections and there was none,” Cr Eisler told The Express.
“I was surprised to see it being passed unanimously and I thank all the councillors.
“It is an emergency and we have to protect the future for the children.
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“Each week as I care for my granddaughter Sophia it becomes more certain the world she will become an adult in will be changing rapidly.
“We need to do everything we can to reduce the destructive impact that climate change will have on our planet.
“We need to leave a healthy planet for our grandchildren.
‘I’m proud that here in Canterbury Bankstown we have the courage to call this what it is, an emergency.
“As a retired teacher I am very pleased to see young people finding their confidence and being unafraid to voice their opinion.
“They see their future is at stake and they are reaching out to us to initiate change.”
Schoolchildren and adults have attended previous climate change rallies in Sydney in their thousands, including a group called Students Strike 4 Climate.
Cr Eisler, whose father George was sent at age 15 to Australia by boat by his Hungarian mum to escape the rising ride of Nazism in 1938, said she has always backed action against climate change.
“This is the first time the council is backing this strike.”
She will be attending the climate emergency rally on Friday, September 20, at the Domain and is encouraging others to attend.
The council will write to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, the federal and state members for Canterbury Bankstown, NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean and federal Environment Minister Susan Ley to take action on climate change.