THE GIRL IN THE BAMBOO TRIPOD: Climate Activism in Brisbane
- Jessica Rendall
- Oct 11, 2019
- 3 min read
22-year-old Sophie Thompson suspended herself from a bamboo tripod in the middle of the Queen Victoria Bridge last month, her ultimatum: asking leaders to declare a climate emergency.
She's a member of climate activism group Extinction Rebellion, whose protests have angered members of the public. The group, who go by XR for short, have performed many creative acts of nonviolent protests in the last couple of weeks, blocking traffic in some of the city’s busiest areas.
Protestors marching through Brisbane CBD.
There aren’t many 22-year-old’s out there willing to sacrifice their criminal record for a cause they believe in, but Sophie Thompson says she had no other choice.
“We don’t take any enjoyment from disrupting people’s lives, our tactic is to disrupt the economy, highlighting the fact that business as usual is killing our planet.”
Miss Thompson says the tripod is frequently used in activism.
“It has been used overseas and at the Adani mine blocking coal trains, I wanted to bring it into the city, put it in the public eye and gain a lot of media attention.”
Miss Thompson is a midwife and says her profession fuelled her passion for saving the planet for future generations.
“I protested in my scrubs to promote the messaging that climate denial is child abuse,” she said.
Although the stunt looked dangerous, Miss Thompson says her team had a lot of practice.
“Safety is our main priority; we want to be non-violent towards ourselves and the public.”
Miss Thompson negotiated with police to bring herself down after they attempted to use tools to cut down her bamboo structure.
“The police were going to slowly cut down each of the poles and lower me down,” she said. “I wasn’t super confident with that, so I decided to come down by myself.”
Miss Thompson was put in a paddy wagon and taken to the Brisbane watch house, where she refused bail.
“I wanted to go to court and knew I had to refuse bail to get a hearing.”
She was given a court hearing that afternoon and charged with obstructing police and blocking transport with no conviction recorded.
“I was given a $1050 fine, but I’m appealing to get it lowered,” she said. “Part of it is $750 for obstructing police, which I don’t believe should be that high as I came down voluntarily.”
Miss Thompson received media attention from all major networks, as well as ABC National TV.
Her question for the public?
“Are you gonna stand with us or against us?”
“We know from research you only need 3.5% of people to participate in civil disobedience to create big social change,” Miss Thompson said.
And her message to Scott Morrison?
“You are ruining children’s futures, you pretend you are a person of faith and care about social justice but if that were true, you would be acting on this emergency.”
Miss Thompson is certainly not alone. Two other members of Extinction Rebellion also feel the same way about Australia’s Prime Minister.
Amber Kellet, made her way to Brisbane from far north Queensland to join in the week long protest.
“I took an entire week off work,” she said. “How can I carry on as normal when this is so clearly an emergency?”
Miss Kellet says she wishes Scott Morrison would empathise with protestors.
“I want to know what he would do if he were in our shoes,” she said. “This is an issue that will affect everyone, including him.”
Andrea Valenzua is also among the group of Extinction Rebellion protestors camped out in Brisbane’s Queen’s Gardens this week.
Her message to Scott Morrison is very similar to her group members’.
“Stop lying to the public, stop trying to coerce innocent people to believe that the way to a brighter future is new coal,” she said. “Stop turning to the oldest trick in the book rather than turning to renewables.”
Miss Valenzua says she hopes the Prime Minister will redefine what progress looks like to the narrative of Australia.
“People deserve to know the truth about coal.”
Comments