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Two years ago, Gregory Andrews was high commissioner to West Africa, where he was responsible for promoting Australian oil and gas projects.
Today he is on the lawn of Parliament, is no longer an Australian government employee and has been on hunger strike for 14 days to protest the government’s lack of action on climate change.
“I couldn’t live with myself,” he said.
“I couldn’t do that and look my daughter and son in the eye. And that’s why I stopped and came back to Australia, and another reason why I’m here on the lawn of Parliament.”
Mr Andrews is calling on the Government to declare a climate emergency and says he will not stop his strike until that happens.
Five change requests
Mr. Andrews says he will not end his hunger strike until the federal government accepts five demands.(
ABC News: Matt Roberts
)
Mr Andrews, who also worked as an adviser to former Environment and Water Minister Greg Hunt, has five “demands” he would like the Albanian government to meet before saying it will end to his hunger strike.
“What I’m asking for are five things that… are all possible with the technology we have,” he told ABC Radio Canberra.
“It’s not as difficult as going to the moon.”
These demands are that Australia stops subsidizing fossil fuels; that coal and gas exports be phased out “as soon as possible”; to stop logging of native forests; that the Prime Minister publish the findings of the national security climate risk assessment report; and for Australia’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act to be amended to include climate impacts.
Mr Andrews said it was time the Australian government started “taking responsibility”.
“Australia is the world’s third largest exporter of fossil fuels,” he said.
“When I think about what this means for my children, for all of Australia and for all children around the world, it’s pretty unbearable.
“That’s why I do it.”
Why a hunger strike?
Mr Andrews previously worked as an advisor to then-Environment Minister Greg Hunt.(
ABC News: Matt Roberts
)
When the Abbott government won the election in 2013, Mr Andrews was a senior civil servant at the Department of Climate Change before being invited to work with Mr Hunt.
He also worked with former Minister for Climate Change, Industry and Innovation Greg Combet, attended international climate meetings with Julia Gillard and was Australia’s first Threatened Species Commissioner.
But it was his tenure as Australia’s ambassador to nine West African countries, during which he promoted Australian oil and gas projects, that Mr Andrews says inspired him to leave his post and the Australian government.
He said it was growing concern over “climate collapse” that pushed him to turn to activism.
“We have to do things differently. Because if we don’t do things differently there will be no future,” Mr Andrew said.
“I will not give up”
Mr Andrews already suffers from a heart condition and has lost eight and a half kilos since his hunger strike began on November 1.
Although he had only consumed water and a few teaspoons of salt in the past 14 days, he said he was not hungry.
“I feel like my stomach is a little knotted,” he said.
“I don’t miss the food, but I feel powerful being on the lawns here at Parliament.
“My body is slowing down, my stability is not as good anymore. I feel quite emotional. But I feel stronger than ever in my life, in terms of my voice.”
Mr Andrews said he had been visited by independent politicians including David Pocock, Allegra Spender and Sophie Scamps, but that until he secured a government commitment “to tackle climate change. .. I won’t eat.”
“I will do what I have to do for a safe planet. I’ve come this far. And I’m not going to give up,” he said.
“The government must change. We are at a critical point.”
‘I’m not going to give up’: Gregory Andrews is 14 days into a hunger strike for climate action