Thousands of climate protesters rallied in Sydney today, with police pushing back demonstrators outside UTS.

Students came together at The University of Technology Sydney before marching to Town Hall as part of the 2021 School Strike 4 Climate protest.

But they were met by dozens of police officers and a physical altercation arose with police trying to prevent students from blocking traffic on Broadway.

Students across Australia called for action on climate change with many critical of the Morrison government’s failure to support renewable energy in the 2021 Federal Budget. 

“I would rather be at school learning but I feel that it’s important to sacrifice this time for me to express how I feel about how using gas is wrong,” said Nat Ward, a student protestor. 

The rally criticised the government’s recent $600 million commitment to build a gas power plant in the Hunter Valley as part of its ‘gas-fired recovery’. 

“We have got a government and a prime minister who’s not concerned about your future and we have to strike, we have to fight and we have to make it abundantly clear that enough is enough,” said Allen Hicks, national secretary of the Electrical Trades Union in his address to protestors.

“Instead of listening to the experts, what does the federal government do? They go and grab $600 million of your money and my money, taxpayer money to invest in something that isn’t viable.”

Student protestors were joined by unionists and various other social groups out the front of Sydney Town Hall at midday as the official strike began, with hundreds chanting: “Bullshit come off it, our climate is not for profit.”

Additional reporting and video by Aston Brown and Louis Mitchell-Turner.

Main image: Climate change protesters outside Town Hall in Sydney today. Photo: Aston Brown