A group of Australian women and non-binary people led their grassroots climate campaign into Federal Parliament today with their visual petition, the #everydayclimatecrisis, to etch their voices into history, once and for all.

Led by Queanbeyan photographer, Hilary Wardhaugh, the visual petition depicts the climate crisis through confronting images, along with personal statements addressed to all elected Members of Parliament and the Australian Government.

Ms Wardhaugh stood proudly on the lawns of Australian Parliament House to hand over more than 1240 crowd-sourced photographic images to the Federal Member for Canberra, Alicia Payne.

As the group of women gathered on the grass outside parliament, schoolchildren on a tour bus drove past waving with glee, Ms Payne’s young child was attached to her hip, and an activist’s daughter ran forward to hand Ms Payne a painted rock that read ‘Hope – save our planet – save our future’.

The children were a welcome yet stark reminder of who the climate change petition is for – Australia’s future.

“I’m here to deliver a petition that the women of Australia have put together that illustrates climate change. It’s something that’s very dear to my heart, and I’m super grateful to the people sho have submitted to it,” Ms Wardaugh told Canberra Daily.

“It means so much to me that they [Federal Members of Parliament] came down to accept it, you wouldn’t believe. We need change and we need people to realise it’s not about the half a dozen rich white men that run oil and gas companies – it’s about the women of Australia who will suffer because of climate change. So that’s why it’s important.

“I have hope that because it’s on record and will be recorded in Hansard, it’ll be tabled to Parliament not as a petition but a tabled document. The main aim was to get recorded and be on public record.”

Ms Payne said she felt it was a “huge honour” to be the person accepting the petition, and “can’t wait” to look through the photos.

“I will very proudly take it into Parliament and wave it around, rather than a lump of coal, and present it formally as a petition,” she said.

“The fires, as Hilary was saying, is what prompted the start of this work, and as a relatively new MP when that happened, I will never forget the depth of feeling that my constituents shared with me about what was going on in our region – their fears for the future and the desperate, desperate need for action.

“I am so proud that we are standing here today with a Labor Government that is going to begin that action – urgently. I love this project and I’m very honoured to accept all six volumes today.”

Ms Payne was joined by Labor MPs Kirsty McBain and Andrew Leigh, as well as senate candidate David Pocock, who told Canberra Daily the visual petition is a powerful way to convey their message, rather than the usual signatures.

“We’ve seen a huge shift over the last decade in people’s attitudes towards the climate. Clearly our leaders have been lagging behind what most Australians want, and I think this is part of it,” Mr Pocock said.

“We know that women bear the brunt of climate change impacts, not just here in Australia, but around the world.”

Contributor to the petition, and standing today to witness the exchange, was local artist Ngaio Fitzpatrick, who said it felt “wonderful” to contribute some of her wok to Hilary’s petition.

“I contributed a couple of images, one of the Hazelwood Power Station – an archaic remnant of the way fossil fuels are going – and I had an image of a tree in the fires,” Ms Fitzpatrick said.

“I certainly feel a lot more hopeful in the last couple of weeks. I know it’s political, but to keep to 1.5 degrees warming we need to move quickly. Unfortunately, politics doesn’t move quickly, but I think the more of us that know and understand, the better chance we have of change.”

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