In the lingering haze of the devastating fires of 2019-20, women came together to form the Women's Climate Congress out of a sense of frustration over government and societal inaction in the face of a looming climate disaster.
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Concerned for future generations and the natural world, we resolved to put them at the centre of our thinking, to rely on reputable scientific research and to use art in the way we communicate. Not only do pictures speak 1000 words but art also conjures up emotions around new ideas that we haven't yet found words for.
There isn't a strong culture of art in Australia that speaks to us of suffering in disaster. Travelling in Germany, for example, one is constantly reminded of the tragedy of war: Kathe Kollwitz's pieta in the Neue Wache; Otto Dix's portrayal of horrifying disability of returned soldiers and horrifying greed and corruption that enrich some in war; markers outside the houses of victims of genocide.
Australian artists such as Hilda Rix-Nicholas, and Albert Tucker have documented their war experiences and First National artists refer in their work to genocide. But this "black armband" view of history doesn't always sit well with the pragmatic Australian spirit.
We rush to support those in need, as was the case recently in the Northern Rivers floods, and then move on. Our national ethos is grounded in optimism and the privilege of wealth: a sense that though bad things may happen, we can get through them with government money and helping hands from the community.
Into this secure outlook come the climate protesters, who block main thoroughfares and make us late for our lives. They can be seen as the artists of the climate movement - their performances are intended to stir us to greater awareness of the oncoming danger and spur us to action.
Our response tends to be one of irritation: we're going to be late to a more or less important event and more or less seriously inconvenienced.
But these acts of peaceful protest are invitations to take one further step in our thinking: today we will get to our appointment late or have to postpone a meeting or miss an important connection.
But what if instead of a girl glued to the tarmac this had been a surge from rising sea levels; shortages of food in the shops because of drought and pest plagues; a wave of immigrants from inundated Pacific Island states or uninhabitable countries in our region.
These are the problems that we will face unless our actions now limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees and we work closely and with significant financial resources to support countries in our region.
As I'm musing on these thoughts I'm abruptly brought to reality by a passing remark that the flight I'm due to take the next day may be disrupted by climate activists at the airport.
I'm indignant: I'm already aware of the seriousness of the situation - planes being re-routed will probably end up producing more emissions - my trip is important: to see my son for the first time in a year. I'm feeling hostile towards any protesters.
But then I arrive at the airport and in fact my flight has been cancelled - not because of climate protesters on the tarmac but because of unseasonal weather, the type that is predicted by climate scientists as being more frequent as global temperature rises.
People at the airport are generally quietly stressed but get on with the task of changing their plans. I miss a day of my trip which involves substantial reorganisation of my plans.
But no-one is cursing the weather, in the way they would curse an activist who caused a similar disruption. We walk blindly through our routine, and indeed, it takes artists to wake us into consciousness of our surroundings.
The response to climate protests in Australia has been the passage of draconian anti-protest laws, under which people have already been sentenced to imprisonment.
These laws have met with criticism, not only from local thinkers but also from international leaders in the fields of human rights and democracy. Australians have been known to mock advice from international organisations, describing them as out-of-touch and coming from an ivory tower.
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It's well to remember that these organisations are ones that we voluntarily joined - and if our lobbying efforts several years ago to be appointed chair of the Human Rights Council are any indication, we value membership.
They are often responsible for overseeing the implementation of important treaties, which Australia has voluntarily signed onto. And their work is based on research of many people for many years.
It's one of WCC's key values that we respect reputable scientific research. Reputable research in the fields of human rights and democracy is clear: peaceful protest is a human right and must be protected.
We look with sharp criticism at the treatment in Iran of protesters calling for fair treatment of women. They are beaten, intimidated, arrested and suffer the ultimate penalty under the law. In Australia, climate protesters are also intimidated and arrested, and handed the ultimate penalty under current Australian law - prison.
The rationale for these draconian laws is that business and people's lives are being disrupted.
But climate change is here and climate change is already disrupting our lives. Let us put the same energy into the fight to reduce global emissions and to protect the lives of our children and the natural world as we are putting into the fight to silence these climate Jeremiahs who speak only the truth.
- Kirsten Anker is a founding member and director of the Women's Climate Congress. She has worked as a lawyer and a mother. The views expressed here are her own.
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