Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Blood-drenched ‘zombies’ swarm Queensland parliament

Extinction Rebellion protesters dressed up as zombies outside Queensland parliament to campaign for action on climate change.

AAP
Mon, 22 February 2021 7:11PM

The undead swarmed the perimeter of parliament and Brisbane's George Street.

Blood-drenched zombies have turned Queensland's parliament and a major road into a dead end in a protest for climate change action.

Extinction Rebellion protesters dressed as the undead swarmed the perimeter of parliament and Brisbane's George Street as politicians were turning up for the first sitting day of the year on Tuesday.

The billionaire, worker and scientist-themed zombies chased MPs, blocked their cars from entering the building and even briefly breached the gates before being pushed out by police.

XR spokesperson Rachel said the demonstration highlighted the lack of state government action on climate change.

"They have yet to declare a climate emergency," she said in a statement.

"They continue to invest in destructive industries and prioritise profit over people; the COVID-19 gas-led recovery plan is just one recent devastating example of that".

The protest was the 10th held by XR in central Brisbane since October with the zombies turning to block George St after being shepherded away from parliament's gates by police.

The demonstrators danced to the Michael Jackson hit Thriller or laid down on the road and wiggled, bringing traffic to a halt before they were moved on by police.

"We take roads because Extinction Rebellion will continue a campaign of mass civil-disobedience led by everyday people until we experience real change led by real democracy," Rachel said.

"Other tactics, such as petitioning, door knocking, going to marches and voting are not working for us in a system where the fossil fuel industry provide the largest source of political donations to both major parties.

"Our government is compromised and deadlocked."

…and the zombies have come to get them!
The XR Zombies have taken over Brisbane. Photo supplied.

The Zombies of the Climate ApoCOALpse have today swarmed around Queensland’s Parliament House this morning to highlight impending climate chaos.

XR spokesperson Rachel says the Zombies represented undead billionaires, workers, scientists. ‘Everyday people have come back from the future to warn of the environmental perils of inaction during this crisis.’
Zombies chased politicians. Photo supplied.

The group chased politicians around gates to block and disrupt their personal and car entry to the building and swamping them with climate zombies as they went past.

Just after 8.35am (QLD time) people breached the gates of Parliament House briefly before they were ushered out by police and security.

‘The Queensland government has failed to take any meaningful action on the climate crisis that we are facing. They have yet to declare a climate emergency. They continue to invest in destructive industries and prioritise profit over people, the COVID-19 gas led recovery plan if just one recent devastating example of that,’ says Rachel.

The spectacle of zombies lurching around the streets in gruesome blood soaked costumes, depicting an apocalyptic scene of destruction and devastation sent a strong message to politicians. The activists are portraying a future of immense human suffering if we continue to sleepwalk to catastrophe.
The message is act now
Spreading the Zombie message. Photo supplied.

The message is: If we don’t act now there will be fires and floods, food and water shortages, mass displacement of people across the world, global health crises and irreversible loss of biodiversity.

At 8.42am the group took the road outside Parliament House at the intersection of Alice and George St, for just under 10 minutes before police threatened to move in an arrest the crowd. Traffic was at a standstill and choked up quickly in the busy peak-hour as the swarm of zombies spilt out on to the road to do the Zombie Dance, a booming rendition of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

‘We take roads because Extinction Rebellion will continue a campaign of mass civil-disobedience led by everyday people until we experience real change led by real democracy. Other tactics, such as petitioning, door knocking, going to marches and voting are not working for us in a system where the fossil fuel industry provide the largest source of political donations to both major parties. Our government is compromised and deadlocked,’ said Rachel.
There is still time

‘There is still time, if politicians act in the interests of the people – 75% of the population want urgent action on managing the climate crisis.’

Amy MacMahon, MP for the Greens, was the only politician seen to engage with the protestors. She came out filming the protest, and when Zombies told her they were hear to warn politicians, to tell them to listen to the climate science, because they weren’t she agreed: ‘That’s exactly right,’ she said. ‘Most people in there aren’t listing to the people and climate science, and we’ve got politicians inside here who are still defending coal on a daily basis.’

XR are demanding that decision-making on the climate and ecological crisis be led by a binding Citizen’s Assembly – informed by scientific fact, First Nations knowledge of ecosystems care, climate justice advocates and other knowledge holders – in order to formulate a plan so we can halt biodiversity loss and reach net-zero emissions by 2025.

Extinction Rebellion will stage their next act of mass disruption, Free the Truth on March 5 in the centre of the Queen Street Mall https://fb.me/e/7QrxGwptv followed by a national week of action from March 22 to 28 across all major cities: https://fb.me/e/2wHezgYN5 .

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