There is no vaccine for climate change!

This morgue style die-in action outside the federal Department of Health’s office in Naarm (Melbourne) at 595 Collins St on Thursday 10th December will call attention to the fact that the climate crisis is a health crisis. Gather on the lawn outside the Age building at 73 Spencer St (next to Southern Cross Station) at 12pm for a briefing, action will start at 12:30.

It is time to act now:

• 2019 was the hottest and driest year on record in Australia, with the national mean temperature 1.5 degrees above average.
• The 2019-20 bushfires caused an estimated 445 deaths and put more than 4,000 people in hospital.
• Over the next decade, deaths and disease caused by the climate crisis will continue to rise here and around the world.
• We are angered but not surprised that the initial consultation papers for the 10-year national preventative health strategy make no mention of the health impacts of the climate crisis.
• With donations from fossil fuel companies to both the Liberal, National and Labor parties up 48% in the last 12 months, we are concerned that government policy continues to cater for the interests of the few instead of the needs of many.
• We call on Greg Hunt, Minister for Health and member for Flinders, to ensure that the 10-year national preventative health strategy currently being developed by his Department includes a considered analysis of, and detailed response to, the health impacts of the climate crisis. It is time to act now!

Please RSVP to take part in this action. Because of covid restrictions on outdoor gatherings, there will be a maximum of 50 participants. A member of the planning group will contact everyone who RSVPs to confirm attendance, discuss roles, covid protocols, etc. If you have any questions email campbell.gome@protonmail.com

XR Darebin acknowledges that this action will take place on the stolen land of the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to their elders past, present and emerging. We know acknowledgement is limited without corresponding action. It is our intention to work for environmental and multi-species justice, and to continually address the question of how we can meaningfully understand, respond to, and participate in dismantling, ongoing colonial violence in this country.