Extinction Rebellion Climbs Melbourne Arts Spire Over Climate Change

Arts Centre Melbourne, State Theatre. (Ming Chen/Epoch Times)

A climate action protestor has scaled the spire of the Arts Centre Melbourne to unfurl a banner protesting climate change.

On April 28, the Extinction Rebellion protestors unfurled a large banner across the spire reading, “Occupy for Climate 2023.”

The group is known for its high-profile protests—sometimes involving malicious damage—aimed at disrupting the economic activity of a target city.

The group’s spokeswoman Jane Morton said the most recent protest was aimed at raising awareness of climate change.

“We are looking at societal collapse; that is what scientists are saying. It’s not really on the news. That is why Extinction Rebellion is going to try to sound the alarm,” she told Nine’s Today program.

Causing Millions in Damage for What?

The group has cost taxpayers millions of pounds in disruptive behaviour in the UK.

Just Stop Oil, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, caused 7.5 million pounds (US$9 million) in policing costs in just nine weeks, according to figures from the London Metropolitan Police.

“Enough is enough. Blocking motorways and slow walking in roads delays our life-saving emergency services, stops people getting to work, and drains police resources,” said Suella Braverman, the UK home secretary.

While the protests gained attention, their effectiveness has been questioned.

Zion Lights, a former spokesperson for the group, said she quit Extinction Rebellion after realising the group’s approach was not leading to any meaningful change.

“I was starting to think that we’ve been protesting for 20 years,” she told CPAC Australia in 2022, “First of all, are we getting it wrong? Are people sick of hearing what we don’t want?”

“When you join the environmental movement, it’s just completely standard that you’re anti-nuclear,” she added. “And I never questioned it; I was young and worried about the environment.”

Activities Across the Developed World

Extinction Rebellion is only one of many highly disruptive climate protest groups operating in the developed world.

Blockade Australia has held up traffic at the country’s busiest ports in the name of climate change.

On March 22, 2022, the group blockaded the main road into the Port of Botany in Sydney with a seven-metre-high construct.

A day later, another protestor suspended himself from a bridge leading into the port while another blocked the main rail line.

All actions caused hours of delays for traffic moving goods in-and-out of the port.

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Activists have also targeted cultural works.

On Oct. 27, 2022, a man apparently tried to glue his head to Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, Netherlands, while another man glued his own hand to the wall next to the painting.

The two Belgian protesters, wearing Just Stop Oil T-shirts, were sentenced to two months in prison, according to ARTnews.

While the messaging appears to be about climate action, retired Professor Eric Louw says the group’s activities are similar to terrorist acts.

“A tiny number of activists can cause major social and economic disruption if they pick their targets well,” he wrote in The Epoch Times.

“At heart, all acts of terrorism are based upon a strategy called ‘propaganda of the deed.’ Activists carry out an act (or deed) that is designed to be so visually compelling that the news media will not ignore it.”

Louw said the “eco-terrorists” aim to capture the public’s attention and recruit new members through their activity.