Melbourne sparky ‘rights a wrong’ by ruining climate activist Tyre Extinguishers’ attack on locals cars
A Melbourne man has become a local hero after foiling an attack by extreme climate activists targeting residents’ cars overnight.
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A Melbourne man has become a local hero after foiling an attack by radical climate activists against residents in his inner-city suburb overnight.
Brendan Lang was walking through the leafy neighbourhood of Princes Hill at about 7.30am on Wednesday when he spotted a ute with a flat tyre.
“I thought it was strange”, he told news.com.au. But what made it even stranger, he said, were the “three detectives holding bags that had licence plate numbers on them”.
He kept walking, and when he got home he noticed his neighbours’ 4WD also had a flat tyre.
“So I grabbed my pump and saw a note on the windscreen from these people that said what they’d done,” Mr Lang said.
The note was left by Tyre Extremists, a group of climate change extremists who have targeted vehicles around Melbourne’s affluent suburbs by intentionally deflating their tyres.
The activists then leave a calling card on the windscreen explaining why they deflated “one of more” tyre in their war against “massive cars” – what they call “gas guzzlers”.
“You’ll be angry, but don’t take it personally,” the note reads.
“It’s not you. It’s your car.”
“We did this because driving around in urban areas in your massive vehicle has huge consequences for others”
Mr Lang took matters into his own hands and set out with his trusty electric pump.
“I decided to clear my schedule for the day and counteract all the wrongdoings,” he said.
The electrician and local business owner said at he was fielding calls from police “to respond to their locations” where they found flat tyres, and he was calling police in return whenever he found flat tyres on his own investigation.
He documented his morning of good Samaritan work on his businesses Instagram page, showing multiple SUVs, sedans, and 4WD vehicles targeted by the Extinguishers.
He estimates he reinflated about 50 tyres, on about 25 vehicles hit by the group.
Mr Lang said he had never seen anything like it before, and had never heard of the Tyre Extinguishers before he saw their note on Wednesday morning.
That is despite the group deflating “hundreds” of tyres in the affluent Melbourne suburb of Toorak earlier this month.
“I know climate activists can get quite extreme in getting their message across, but I don’t think that’s the right way of going about it,” Mr Lang said.
“I’m an electrician and I’m actively working to improve the chance of the climate surviving by transitioning people off gas to electricity, installing solar panels, all of that.
“So I’m passionate about climate change action, too, and seeing people try to get their point across like this is kind of frustrating.”
In an ironic twist, the sparky was reinflating the tyres with renewable energy, using solar-charged batteries.
Mr Lang said extreme groups like the Tyre Extinguishers may think they are “targeting elites” in leafy suburbs not realising “regular people can live in these suburbs, too”.
“Sure, it gets the message out there on loud speaker, but it doesn’t speak to the people who they’re trying to speak to in a way that’s going to make an impact,” he said.
“It’s just abrasive and disruptive and pushes people away from what they’re trying to do.”
He has extended an open hand to any of the activists to work with him installing solar panels of electric vehicle charging stations at homes with his Melbourne-based company.
The Tyre Extinguishers is a guarded organisation that has built an international following in their mission to rid the roads of “massive and unnecessary” vehicles.
The group’s manifesto says activists should “inconvenience and expense SUV owners” by deflating their tyres wherever possible.
This is done by removing the caps over tyre pump air valves, often under the cover of darkness, leaving air to leak gradually.
In early September, supporters of the group said in a statement to media outlets that “concerned citizens” has “disarmed” vehicles in Melbourne’s richest suburb in the “first action in a new wave of climate protest in Australia”.
In August this year, supporters of the group destroyed the tyres on at least 60 SUVs at a UK car dealership.
A Victoria Police spokesperson confirmed to news.com.au the Merri-bek Crime Investigation Unit were investigating after a number of vehicles’ tyres were deflated across a number of streets in Brunswick and Princes Hill overnight.
“More than 20 four-wheel drive and sports utility vehicles in the vicinity of Park Street were tampered with,” the spokesperson said.
“Police have also been notified up to 20 similar vehicles had the same deflation across four streets in Princes Hill.”
The Princes Hill streets were Paterson, Arnold, Wilson and Richardson. Notes were left on the vehicles describing their environmental impact.
“Anyone who witnessed anything or with CCTV or other footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report at crimestoppersvic.com.au,” the spokesperson added.
The investigation is ongoing.
Continue the conversation – georgina.noack@news.com.au
Originally published as Melbourne sparky ‘rights a wrong’ by ruining climate activist Tyre Extinguishers’ attack on locals cars
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