Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News
National

School Strike For Climate rally draws students to Kirribilli House calling for greater action on climate change

Climate rally outside PM's Kirribilli House

Thirteen-year-old Ella O'Dwyer-Oshlack should be at school but she now doesn't have one.

Instead, the Lismore teen on Friday told a crowd of about 1,000 people outside Kirribilli House in Sydney the recent floods had made her a "climate refugee".

The floods, which swept through parts of NSW and Queensland, were at the forefront of the latest round of School Strike For Climate rallies calling for greater action on climate change.

Holding placards reading "SCOMO has extinction FOMO" and "don't be a fossil fool", students descended on the Prime Minister's NSW residence to call for net zero emissions and 100 per cent renewable energy generation and exports by 2030.

It was one of more than 30 School Strike For Climate events held across the country on Friday, which drew thousands of children, as part of a global youth movement.

Ella O'Dwyer-Oshlack says she lost her home in the Lismore floods. (ABC News: Emily Laurence)

Ella said she travelled to join her peers in Sydney after watching her home go underwater.

The Lismore girl lost her house during the northern NSW city's flood catastrophe, just two years since the region was affected by bushfires.

She says she feels let down by the government and is "terrified" about the future.

"We have leaders that don't lead us in the right direction, in fact we are going in the exact wrong direction," she said.

Students rally outside Kirribilli House to call for action on climate change. (ABC News: Emily Laurence)

Mr Morrison said his government was taking climate action seriously and pointed out it had committed to an emissions target of net zero by 2050.

"Now, and it's not just about reducing emissions because you've got to deal with the built-up, existing impact of climate change," he said.

"And so the impacts of weather events and these things are the product of things that have been happening for decades.

"Not for a couple of years, for decades and decades and decades. And so we have to build up our resilience and adaptation."

Students march toward Kirribilli House on Friday. (ABC News: Emily Laurence)

Natasha Abhayawickrama, from Western Sydney, said schools were forced to close when wild weather brought floods to the Harbour City.

The 17-year-old said she didn't believe the federal government had a real plan to combat the "climate crisis".

Natasha Abhayawickrama, from western Sydney, is an organiser of the rally. (ABC News: Emily Laurence)

"Young people are just really frustrated, honestly scared and anxious, about our future," she said.

"We're already living through the climate crisis. We’re already seeing it."

Although many in attendance were too young to vote at the upcoming federal election, Natasha was confident climate would be an "integral issue" at the polls.

Rallies are being held in Australian capital cities on Friday, and regional centres including Newcastle, Wollongong, Toowoomba, Geraldton, Cairns and Geelong.

Alice Cotter at the School Strike for Climate in Darwin. (ABC News: Nibir Khan)

In Darwin, about 60 people rallied outside the Northern Territory's parliament.

Among them were siblings Bill and Alice Cotter. 

Alice said she was attending the protest because she wanted to "have a future". 

"There needs to be a little bit of recognition that this is a big issue and it should be addressed a little more early than 2050," she said. 

Bill said he was "frustrated" he was not old enough to vote yet, so he was making his voice heard through the protest. 

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.