Meet Ruby
I’m 21. I grew up in rural Margaret River in WA on Wadandi Boodja Country, where fires and extreme weather shaped my understanding of the climate crisis.
Growing up in a rural community, I saw the impacts of extreme weather and fire. Western Australia consistently has some of the hottest temperatures in Australia. Ever since I was little, I have always been hyper-aware of the existential risk that living in the bush can bring during summer, and it makes me constantly anxious.
I’m about to finish studying a Bachelor of Marine and Antarctic Science on palawa land. I’m currently in my final semester, majoring in marine biology and marine Antarctic governance.
I was drawn to Tasmania for my studies, for its wild nature and landscapes and its proximity to the Southern Ocean.
But over the past few years I’ve watched areas of the Ningaloo reef be decimated by bleaching. A living reef vibrates with life but a dead one is a ghost town.
I’m watching thriving kelp forests turn to barren reefs, and vibrant coral ecosystems become graveyards. These reefs take hundreds of years to grow, and I’ve watched their decimation in a decade.
Climate inaction is violating our rights but politicians continue to green-light fossil fuel projects, putting us and our communities at even greater risk.
The Australian government needs to be held accountable for climate action. The people who are meant to be leading our country always try and weasel their way out of things.
But young Australians will fight back by being better informed, more powerful, and angrier.
It horrifies me that future generations might not even know what ice on Antarctica looked like, what a healthy climate and resilient ocean felt like, or the experience of a healthy global ecosystem.
We need to make rapid changes as quickly as possible. The Australian government needs to stop greenwashing and invest in grassroots community-based projects that make a real difference.
This is an emergency, and we must act now. If we don’t it will be too late.
