Australian drought-stricken farmers challenge government’s climate change stance in TV ad

Those two sentences are the opening lines to a new advertisement challenging the federal government’s stance on climate change and the drought in Australia’s eastern states, according to theguardian.com.

The 30-second ad will begin airing on commercial channels this week and will be beamed into politically important suburban areas of Australia’s three largest capital cities during the NRL grand final on 30 September.

The advertisement has been paid for by the Australian Conservation Foundation and features Brown, a sheep and cattle farmer who runs a 45,000 acre property 65km south of Longreach in central west Queensland.

Brown is a fourth-generation grazier whose family property has been affected by drought.

“We need to stick to the Paris agreement, we need to stop burning coal and we need to commit to more renewable energy,” she said.

The campaign comes after the Prime Minister Scott Morrison, described the drought as his highest priority but said the conversation about the connection between drought and climate change should be left ‘for another day’.

Last week hundreds of farmers and their supporters rallied outside Parliament House in Canberra demanding action on climate change.