It is easy to feel helpless when campaigning for climate action, say Rising Tide volunteers Lanthe Daly and John Wurcker. 

But, in their eyes, “action is an antidote to despair”, and encourage Canberrans to attend the Canberra Wave Against Coal and Gas event on November 26-28.

The Canberra Wave follows the blockade of the Newcastle coal port last year, and now, the focus will be on policy makers.

The event will involve music, speakers, and a 48-hour vigil on the lawns of Parliament House, with activists who would have been blockading the coal port again for seven days prior, coming down from Newcastle for the final two days of parliament sitting.

Lanthe says: “If they [politicians] won’t stop coal, then we will have to do it.

“And we’re not just doing a symbolic blocking of the coal port – we’ll just keep going and going.

“We’ve got committed people, and the diversity of skills and the knowledge base to do that.”

John says: “Coming from a background in social and climate justice rallies, we’re over rallies, we’re wanting something that has impact, so even the blockades of the coal port last year, 30 hours, this year 50 hours, they’re still symbolic, but we are a rising tide, we are building momentum.”

Both events are targeting specific but different aspects of the movement, says John, with the Newcastle coal port being the largest coal port in the world, and Canberra being the political hub of the nation.

He says: “It’s great that Canberrans have this opportunity to really be an important part of the climate movement. 

“While we’re a progressive population, we’re also conservative in many ways, and so this type of activity, whether you’re a public servant, a retiree, a young person just starting off in your career, it’s a way of expressing yourself, and your views, and the pain that a lot of people are sensing about the lack of adequate climate action.”

“We think Australia is such a great world leader and such a great place to be, and people don’t realise that the fossil fuels that we export, when you look at that in terms of the emissions, we’re the second largest exporter of fossil fuels in the world, only behind Russia. 

“So our emissions from our burning of coal and gas is more than when the oil from Saudi Arabia is burnt.”

Lanthe adds: “Also the fact that we’re not getting the profits from that. We don’t tax them properly.”

Taxing fossil fuel company exports at 78 per cent to fund community and industry transition and repairing climate loss and damage is one of three key demands put forward by Rising Tide. 

The other two are immediately cancelling all new fossil fuel projects, and ending all coal exports from Newcastle by 2030.

But, Lanthe stresses that Rising Tide is also committed to ensuring workers are protected in this transitory period. 

She says: “We need to make sure that transition is fair. 

“We need to make sure the workers aren’t targeted in any way. 

“It’s actually the industry, and we have to look after the workers to transition to the renewable industry.”

John says: “Even the fossil fuel executives know that in 20 years time, the game’s over. 

“We’ve won, it’s just we’re not winning fast enough is the issue.”

Having both experienced activist burnout themselves, Lanthe and John say they are understanding of why people feel disheartened, but hope The Canberra Wave will be something people can engage with.

The Canberra Wave Against Coal and Gas, November 26-28. Visit rising tide.org.au.