We took Australia’s failures to the UN. Now the government has some explaining to do

SLAY! Not one, but TWO United Nations Special Rapporteurs have just raised serious allegations with the Australian government about its continued coal and gas expansion.

Why? About a year and a half ago, nine young people from right across this continent filed a human rights complaint with the UN against the Australian government over its failure to protect our lives and futures from climate disasters.

We call ourselves Generation Justice and, with our legal team from Environmental Justice Australia, we took this bold step because frankly, we’re over it.

We’re over our government failing us.

We’re over watching politicians talk about being good neighbours to the Pacific and expecting applause for Australia’s role at COP31, while they keep approving more coal and gas mines that make climate disasters much, much worse.

And while we’re celebrating this huge moment – the UN taking our concerns seriously (!!) – the reality is bittersweet.

Because the damage we’re fighting to prevent hasn’t stopped. In fact, it’s happening right now.

For me, Zhanāe, it’s painfully close to home.

Last week, they started digging at the Gemini coal mine on my Country in central Queensland.

When I found out, I felt like I’d failed.

As an Aboriginal woman, Country is part of who I am. The health of land is inseparable from our wellbeing and our future. I’ve grown up with a deep responsibility to care for it, and I cherish that responsibility.

But how are we supposed to care for Country when governments keep approving projects that destroy it?

Climate change is already damaging our homelands, threatening the land, waters and cultural knowledge we carry. And now mining is adding to that harm.

We should be able to care for Country, practise our culture and enjoy being young without constantly having to defend the places we’re responsible for from mining companies.

And for me, Maya, climate disasters have punctuated almost every year of my childhood, from bushfires and floods to droughts and storms.

In 2021, I was sitting my Year 10 English exam when a massive supercell storm tore through my hometown of Sawtell on the NSW Mid North Coast.

I remember looking outside and seeing the ground covered in ice. Homes and shops were badly damaged. The roof of the shopping centre where I had a casual job collapsed.

People were still dealing with the damage when I finished high school.

We grew up being told climate change was a problem for the future. But it’s defining our lives, our health, our communities, our choices, whether we feel safe, how we think about and plan for the future right here, right now.

That’s why this UN intervention matters so much.

For the first time, two UN human rights investigators have formally challenged Australia’s continued coal and gas approvals, fossil fuel subsidies and whether its climate policies are doing enough to protect young people.

They’ve raised serious concerns about the rights of children, First Nations people and people living with disabilities, and asked Australia to explain itself.

And the Australian government has now responded.

Did it explain how approving more coal and gas is consistent with protecting our lives and futures?

Nope.

Instead, it gave the UN a rundown of its existing climate policies and targets, talked up its credentials in the Pacific, and Australia’s role presiding over global climate negotiations at COP.

Don’t get us wrong. Renewable energy and regulating polluting facilities matter. But you can’t keep pouring petrol on the fire and expect applause for buying more hoses.

Since the Albanese government came into office, it’s approved a whopping 37 new and expanded coal and gas projects. Australia is one of the world’s biggest exporters of coal and gas in the world. 80% of the coal and gas mined here is for export – which means 80% of Australia’s total climate pollution just isn’t counted in our existing targets and policies.

It still heats our planet. It still fuels fires, floods, extreme heat, drought and food insecurity.

And young people like us will live with the consequences for our entire lives.

We’re sick of being told to be patient. To wait for the transition. To trust that governments have it under control when they’ve chosen inaction time and time again.

We lost the chance to just be kids. We don’t want to lose our future too. We shouldn’t have to wonder if the places we grew up will still be safe places to live in 20 years.

We’re asking our government to do something pretty simple, and pretty fundamental – protect the lives and futures of young people by stopping fuelling the climate crisis.

Stop approving new coal and gas projects. Stop handing public money to fossil fuel companies. And make a national roadmap to move away from fossil fuels quickly and fairly, with workers, communities and First Nations people at the table.

Taking our government to the UN wasn’t exactly on our bucket lists.

But when the adults making monumental decisions about our futures won’t listen, what else are we supposed to do?

Now two international human rights experts have taken our concerns seriously. They’ve asked questions our own government still hasn’t properly answered.

The UN has heard us.

Prime Minister Albanese, it’s your turn.

Zhanāe Dodd is a proud Aboriginal woman from the Ghungalu, Garingbal, Kaanju, Birri and Wiri people, belonging to the Gurubil skingroup. On her Country near Rockhampton, Qld, Magnetic South has just started bulldozing for its Gemini Coal project.

Maya Farmer is a university student doing a science degree. She grew up on the NSW Mid North Coast, and is a member of Generation Justice.