localmatters.co.nz
December 18, 2019
Your locally-owned Community Newspaper FREE
Inside this issue
Fun in the sun
pages 21 to 32
Protestors kept their heads down in the sand for approximately one minute.
Activists lose their heads at climate protest Climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion sent a very literal message to the Government on Sunday, December 8, when 18 members buried their heads in the sand on Ōrewa Beach. The group, which included both Hibiscus Coast locals and people from wider Auckland, silently walked from Western Reserve to Moana Reserve with signs and Extinction Rebellion
Flags, before digging holes and burying their heads in the sand. They kept their heads in the holes for about one minute. Extinction Rebellion’s North Shore spokesperson, Whangaparāoa resident Amber Perkins, says the government and big corporations have their heads in the sand about the urgency of climate change. “Whilst we acknowledge the effort that
went into the Zero Carbon Bill, it does not act quickly enough, and this action symbolises the reality of the situation in a creative way,” Amber says. “We chose Ōrewa because it will be one of the beaches most affected by sea level rise in Tāmaki Makaurau. Unless we act now to stop climate breakdown, many of our cherished places will be lost.” This is the first time the North Shore
branch has hosted a ‘head in the sand’ event, which is inspired by an extinction rebellion protest held in Australia. Extinction Rebellion is an international organisation that began in England just over a year ago. Dozens of countries are now involved, with more than 10 local branches set up across New Zealand. The group demands that the continued p2