Greens senator David Shoebridge has backed students planning to walk out of schools today to protest the rise of One Nation, amid calls from the party, Labor and the Coalition for students to stay in class and prioritise learning.
“I like the idea of young people actually getting involved in politics and having a say. Like they’re, I suppose they’re asking themselves, you know, in terms of their future, what’s the best thing they can do to protect their future, stop a climate catastrophe, deal with inequality, stop racism,” Shoebridge told News24 (formerly Sky News).
“I thought One Nation were all about free speech. You know that’s at least the spiel you get from One Nation. But what are they? They’re now scared of a bunch of school kids coming out and saying they don’t like One Nation.”
The nationwide “students say no to Hanson” protest, with events in state and territory capitals, is hoping to attract thousands of students angry at the ascendent party’s policies, particularly on changes to the school curriculum regarding Australian history and gender.
Education Minister Jason Clare said yesterday that students would be better served protesting on the weekend, with Liberal frontbencher James Paterson saying they should stay in school. One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce accused “socialist” teachers of encouraging students to protest, saying they would be “deficient” if they missed class.
Shoebridge said: “Good on young people for getting politically active, wanting to have a say. Because at the end of the day, they’ve got the biggest stake in this, right? They’ve got the 80 years going forward, and thinking: ‘What the hell is happening to our planet over the next 80 years?’ And with a big staking like that, we should listen to young people. We should”.
