Today Restore Passenger Rail supporters have occupied a gantry above state highway 1 heading south near Johnsonville .
The attached screenshot shows where the action is happening, with suitable places to park off the highway (please pull off all the way onto the grass, if you can).
Map coordinates: -41.21803747972569, 174.81104193288306

“Our response today is proportionate to the crisis we face.” said spokesperson Rosemary Penwarden

“Wake Up! UN Sec Gen said we are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator. Today we sit above our own highway to climate hell; welcome to the Wellington commuter nightmare, a way of life that is killing us.

“We are on track to pass the agreed 1.5 degrees to 2 degrees, to 3 degrees and on, to an unlivable Hothouse Earth. None of us have the right to condemn our children to that fate.

“There can be no bystanders on this highway to climate hell. We have a moral duty to intervene. It is our democratic responsibility to stop our elected government from leading us to climate hell.

“You cannot arrest your way out of the climate crisis. You cannot close your eyes, put your fingers in your ears and pretend it’s not happening. You cannot ignore us.

“As the rain falls in Northland and roads are closed or restricted due to slips and flooding, we are reminding our politicians that they have a duty of care to New Zealanders. We are on track for more than 3°C of warming. Our government knows what this will mean; escalating living costs, further crop failure, starvation and societal collapse.

“To the government: Get a Grip. Transport emissions are our fastest growing emissions. Restore a nationwide passenger rail service so New Zelanders have a choice to travel without making the climate crisis worse. Make urban public transport free, permanently.

“To our fellow New Zealanders: we call on you to join us in peaceful civil resistance against the system that is killing us, not just us, our children, those yet to be born, and all living things.”

From the gantry:

“Kia ora my name is Jenn, I am a mother and an ecologist. These are extraordinary times, so I can’t live an ordinary life pretending that the climate crisis isn’t real.

I am here for my children, our Pacific Island neighbours and the miraculous biodiversity on Planet Earth.

We can decrease our emissions while we increase the quality of our lives by restoring passenger rail.”

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