Essays by Eric Worrall
Is climate activist increasingly hiding from Australia a blessing or a curse?
British teen athlete star won’t fly to Australia due to climate concerns
Via Rob Harris
January 26, 2023 — 8:27 am…
Innes FitzGerald, 16, is a rising star in the UK track and field, having set a national under-17 record in the 3000m and finished fourth in the 4000m at The European Under-20 Cross Country Championships were held in Turin last month against athletes three years older.
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The teenager, who has been dubbed the “Greta Thunberg of sport” by the British press, wrote to the sport’s governing body this week to say she is not willing to take part in the conscientious selection. she was unable to make the trip to the championships in Bathurst, NSW, in February.
She wrote: “Having the opportunity to play for Great Britain in Australia is a privilege. “When I started running, the prospect of me competing in the World Cross Country Championships seemed like a dream. However, the reality of the trip worried me deeply.
“I was nine years old when the COP21 Paris climate agreement was signed. Now, eight years have passed and global emissions are steadily increasing, putting us on a path to climate catastrophe.”
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Despite the lack of personal visits from top climate influencers, their message still gets through. We have our own batch of homegrown Greta Wannabes.
June 1, 20215:40pm GMT+10
‘Australia’s Greta Thunberg’ promotes action against climate change
SYDNEY, June 1 (Reuters) – Leading thousands in protest marches through central Sydney and joining a landmark class action lawsuit is not a routine activity for most 14-year-olds .
But Australian student Izzy Raj-Seppings has abandoned more frivolous extracurricular activities to ramp up pressure on the country’s leadership in the fight against climate change.
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After all, I think isolation is bad for Australia’s political health.
There was a time when Australia’s isolation helped silence the connection with the 20th-century madness that tore through much of the Northern Hemisphere. To be sure we have communists and fascists in the country, and our contribution to World War 1 and World War 2 has had a significant impact on Australia, many Australian heroes have died fighting the Japan and Germany. My uncle used to use some very Australian slang phrases when talking to the nurses on an allied medical ship – they didn’t care for him, because they thought he are German. Australian city Darwin at the North Pole was bombed by Japan during World War II.
But the most interesting thing that happened to my family during the wars and upheavals of the 20th century, aside from those who served, was once when a light aircraft seemed to have come too close to a ship. American war docked in Melbourne. My grandfather told me many times about dragging my grandmother and kids into their air raid shelter, like puzzle pieces. debris crashed into Melbourne and punched through people’s roofs.
The days of isolation and relative safety are long gone. Today, for better or worse, the internet invites global influencers and all the troubles of the world into homes and schools everywhere.
Given internet access, would foreign climate fanatics coming to Australia in person to spread their poisons make a difference?
I believe the lack of direct contact can make things worse. If the Australian greens could get a close-up look at their climate heroes, they would have a much better chance of realizing that they are not walking on water, that they are human with human failings.
I believe Australians’ obsession with climate activism is likely to get worse, because our homegrown Gretas and Innes FitzGeralds are trying to live up to mythical ideals, instead of interact with flawed human leaders they have met face-to-face.
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