Young minds filled with green mush, by Tony Thomas.
Kids today are a pampered lot. With their forays into climate-strike activism last week, these same kids have become truly insufferable, posing as climate martyrs and lionised by the Fairfax/ABC media and renewables lobbyists. Kids unwilling to unstack the dishwasher after dinner are now condemning their parents for climate criminality.
Five-year-olds are exhorted by adult trainers to dump pre-school and go on strike to combat the global warming that began 150 years ago, following the Little Ice Age. Older kids can skive off for a week with a clear conscience.
(Actually the Earth’s surface has been warming for 350 years, since the depths of the little ice age around 1670.)
Did I say five-year-olds? Well yes, for progressives, indoctrination begins at four. At Brunswick Kindergarten Inc. in The Greens’ bicycle-infested Melbourne heartland, teacher Catherine Sundbye, “with a passion for early learning” runs “Kids Off Nauru lessons” for the four-year-olds, with parents’ approval. The kids come dressed in blue symbolising their sadness, as in #BlueForNauru. Her newsletter chronicles the four-year-olds’ responses to “What would you say to the politicians who won’t let the refugees in?” She clarifies, “It’s not about running a scare campaign” and says most of her tots don’t think the Coalition refugee policy is fair. Ms Sundbye sums up, “That was beautiful to see: how they got it on a deep level. It’s never too early to get them to be part of the conversation.” …
Who is behind this indoctrination and the climate strikes?
Officially, the strikes are run by the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC), with its 70 full- and part-time staff. I’m guessing here, but the scale and sophistication of the national strike suggests the green-left powerhouse GetUp is manipulating events from behind the curtain. … As a supposed charity, AYCC enjoys tax-deductibility for donations. GetUp, as a political lobbyist, does not.
Simon Sheikh, head of GetUp!
AYCC’s $2.9m funding last year included $311,000 in “grants” (presumably from official sources) and $2.1 million in “donations”. These “donations” have quadrupled from $530,000 in 2014 – a little mystery there. Big backer of AYCC has been aged-care and radiology ex-tycoon Robert E. Purves. Last year his fund allocated $746,000 jointly to the AYCC, the Climate Council and two other green groups (2016: $1.3m)
Don’t imagine AYCC is run by teens. Its executives are sophisticated adult political operatives and media massagers, their profiles enhanced by an adoring ABC. By convention the leaders quit AYCC in their late 20s, going on to careers in the big league, like co-founder Amanda McKenzie who is now CEO of the Climate Council.
AYCC and GetUp have always been, as the Chinese say, as close as lips and teeth, with AYCC making no secret of prior campaigning partnerships. GetUP with 60-70 full-time staff had $8.4m revenue last year. GetUp director Alex Rafalowicz is a co-founder of AYCC. The co-founder of AYCC, Anna Rose, is married to GetUP founder Simon Sheikh. A later national director of AYCC, Kirsty Albion, is a former marriage equality organiser at GetUp!
hat-tip Stephen Neil
