TRANSCRIPT
Natalie Ahmat: Australia's first Indigenous youth climate network is raising awareness about the impacts of global warming on our communities.
The group known as recently undertook a road trip from far north Queensland to Brisbane to share their vision and to collect stories from our mob who are witnessing the effects of climate change.
Queensland Correspondent Jodan Perry caught up with a couple of members.
Jodan Perry: They make up a grassroots group which has the potential to grow into a force of nature.
Murrawah Johnson, Seed: We launched in July of last year with the intention of having Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth actually at the forefront of the climate justice movement.
Jodan Perry: Already Seed has been making headlines, after campaigning against Australia's big banks to not fund coal projects around Central Queensland's Galilee Basin.
Without funding, the Adani coal project and the expansion of the Abbott point coal port can actually not go ahead without financial closure
Murrawah Johnson: So the significance of this win means that without funding, the Adani coal project and the expansion of the Abbott point coal port can actually not go ahead without financial closure, and by the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and Seed actually participating in this divestment campaign, we've actually stopped the opening up of the Galilee Basin...for now.
By the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and Seed actually participating in this divestment campaign, we've actually stopped to opening up of the Galilee Basin...for now
Jodan Perry: Seed recently undertook a roadtrip from North Queensland down to Brisbane, to help raise awareness of climate change in our communities.
Tallara Gray, Seed: We travelled from Townsville through to Brisbane, with 17 of our volunteers from all over the country, we visited Aboriginal communities talking to elders, and young people, and families, about what they can see change in their environment, and how climate change is effecting them if it is affecting them.
Jodan Perry: The members say the trip was a success, and was an eye-opener to both themselves and the communities they visited.
Tallara Gray: We heard alot of great stories from elders who have lived on country for 60 years, about how dry it is at the moment particularly leading into summer, and because a lot of our volunteers are from metro areas, like Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, it was really good to get out into the country and see what it's like for people living on the land.
We visited Aboriginal communities talking to elders, and young people, and families, about what they can see change in their environment
Jodan Perry: The passion is evident in this group of inspiring young brothers and sisters, and with their determination, momentum is sure to keep building into the future.
Murrawah Johnson: We're actually sending a delegation of six Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth to Paris for the UN climate talks from November to December, and what we'll be doing over there is actually hearing the international narrative of how climate change is having real life effects on people all around the world, but most importantly, Indigenous peoples all around the world.
Jodan Perry, NITV News
