Cyclone Speak Out: Impacted communities demand action after Cyclone Alfred

Survivors of Cyclone Alfred gathered at Queensland Parliament today to dump wheelbarrows of flood-damaged toys, furniture and other belongings and speak out for strong government action to prevent future climate disasters.

Impacted cyclone survivors from Hervey Bay, the Northern Rivers and Gold Coast have travelled to tell their stories, joined by an expected 100 community members, calling for an end to coal and gas, increased funding for community resilience and a fast and fair transition to renewable energy.

Traditional Owner Aunty Barb Pershouse shared her story

Aunty Barb is a proud Badjala, Woppaburra, Torres Strait Islander (Badu Island) woman who is very passionate about her Saltwater Country and the protection of totems - Milbi (turtle), Buthu (dolphin) and humpback whale.

I have never seen anything like the cyclones that have affected my Country and neighbouring Countries this month. This has been building up for many years due to the increase of temperatures of the water due to climate change – it has deeply affected my Country and community, as well as many others.

I have grown up on my Badjala Country (Hervey Bay) from the 60s, born in the year of the Referendum, and I’ve never seen anything like this – the severity of people losing their homes, the damage to the waterways, erosion of sand, rising sea levels, washed up coral on the beach… Enough is enough. We need change today, for our children and their children.

As mob, we are Country. When Country is sick, so are we. We need to act now and protect our waterways and marine ecosystems, or we will lose everything that has fed us and our souls. Mining, fracking and corporate greed must end now.

Marie Carvolth from the Gold Coast shared her story

Marie is the mother of an 11-year-old living in Currumbin, southern Gold Coast.

It was incredibly stressful and scary sheltering with my son and family for five long days in torrential rain and wind while trees fell on our street and the neighbour’s house, bringing down power lines close to our home.

We had six days without power, five days without school, and two days without water or reliable communication with my Mum in hospital. None of that was normal for a weather event on the Gold Coast.

It goes to show that no one is immune from climate impacts anymore, it’s just a question of when is it your turn.

I don’t want anyone else to go through what our family and community went through. Our families and communities deserve to thrive, not just limp from one climate-fuelled disaster to the next.

I hate to think what climate impacts will be like when my son is my age, trying to protect his own family. Governments need to do everything they can to protect us from worsening climate change, because later is too late.

Survivor Moss Cluney shared their story

Moss, 21, is a Bundjalung/Northern Rivers resident

We can't accept empty promises of hope any longer. The physical and emotional trauma caused by the effects of climate change and unnatural disasters, exacerbated by inaction from our governments, leaves our youth hopeless and giving up.

Taping up tarps over my windows to keep out the driving wind and rain from a tropical cyclone is something I never thought I'd have to do in Northern NSW.

Northern Rivers communities have seen climate disaster after climate disaster, so much so that they are becoming desensitized to them. We can't let repeated climate disasters become the 'new normal' for our communities.

Queensland Conservation Council Director Dave Copeman said

It’s unacceptable that our leaders continue to roll out the red carpet for coal and gas companies, when our communities are hurting every summer from extreme weather events, like more extreme floods, storms, fires and heatwaves.

This latest climate disaster should be a wake-up call for our politicians – and yet even now the State Government is streamlining approvals for new coal and gas mines. The Federal Coalition is peddling a shonky nuclear scheme that will keep Australians reliant on fossil fuels for decades to come.

Before Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred had even made landfall, pro-coal and gas advocates were in the media claiming this event had nothing to do with climate change.

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