The University of Western Australia decided last year that it will conduct research which will help build the Burrup Hub, to the tune of $600,000 from both Woodside and Chevron. Stop the Centre for Climate Damage is a student led campaign which opposes the establishment of the catchy-titled ‘Centre For Long Subsea Tiebacks’, UWA’s proposed LNG research centre.
Since February our members have been incredibly active with flyering and outreach on campus, holding many engaging and sometimes confronting conversations about climate change. We co-hosted a talk by Clean State about the LNG industry in WA and were present with our banner and flyers at the 2020 Uni Students Climate Strike at AOG. Just before the restrictions came into effect we ran a flame bearing mini-rally outside of a university library, to the sound of “Beds are Burning”. This generated our biggest turnout ever and our Facebook page gained plenty of interest.
Our methods are peaceful and we believe that having conversations with people is far more effective than shouting at them; that the pen is mightier than the sword. Our campaign has grown to revolve around an Open Letter to the Vice-Chancellor, for which we now have more than 80 signatures including students, academics, alumni and members of the public. Our members have put in many, many hours between classes to work on the letter, and we continue to meet on Zoom to pursue our goal of meeting with the Vice-Chancellor.
In spite of the trying circumstances we will continue to campaign for our University to be on the right side of history. If you would like to sign our Open Letter, you can find it here:
Please check out our facebook page, and get in contact with us if you would like to be involved: