🤯 Thinking about Wave 2

Holy moly I just realised how potentially easy this whole mobilisation thing is. We can - I think - get 100 rebels willing to be arrested from local groups just from fire affected communities on the east coast within 2 months. Possibly more and quicker. Southern Highlands spreads to Shoalhaven - Shoalhaven spreads south to Batemans Bay and Narooma etc, meanwhile Blue Mountains spreads and grows, central and mid-coast, and the northern rivers rebels can’t go to Brisbane so they have to come to Sydney actions! This whole coast has been devastated by fires and now the communities want to rebel.

I’m wondering what the idea is for capacity based launch of wave 2? Because i would say after 2 or max 3 rounds of local actions they need to be directed to the state capital action and the sooner we set a date e.g. first week of December then the sooner we can build momentum towards that.

Major next steps are surely to form relationships with Sydney actions wg. I’m going to be in Sydney for the next 3 weeks so am keen to work on that.

Furthermore all the states are more or less isolated now which is interesting - is it worth aiming to synchronise our efforts?

Also what could a #media-and-messaging strategy be if it were to be at start of December… anyway that’s a bit far off.

This sound exciting but there’s a few tensions that make me hesitate to lock in a december wave 2.

Lack of information about mobilisation pipeline.

At the moment there is little transparency around what’s going on with the mobilisers. I’ve heard there’s 5 mobilisers, or maybe 5 new ones. I know there’s you and Violet running around NSW at the moment setting up local groups and Serge is getting started in Queensland. It would be good to know:

  • How many mobilisers there are
  • Who they are and where they will be mobilising
  • A bit of an idea of what local groups they are intending to start up in the near future
  • Some information about the local groups they have set up

This kind of information would be really useful in helping us project a bit into the future how many new local groups might be able to carry out actions as part of wave 2. It would also be useful for constructing and testing the action support and coordination systems that will maximize the disruptiveness of all these groups.

XR Sydney Spring Rebellion

XR Sydney is already gearing up for a prolongued period of disruption in Sydney in early October - we need more information and discussion on their plans after this and how we might best work with them. In having some regen time post-rebellion, integrating the swell of new rebels, and then planning and organizing future action, December might be too early for another prolongued major disruption.

Consultation with the wider movement

The basic plan for wave 2 is major disruptions in all state capitals. This needs buy-in from rebels all across the country - we will be depending on rebels all across the country to make it happen. We therefore need to give some opportunities for rebels all across the country to co-create the action, get involved, tweak the plans, etc. This involves some consultation and participation that will take a bit of time to organize.

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I agree with @ManicMax and I agree with @ageorge. Maybe just call it a Wave 1.5 action and encourage all the new bushfire affected groups to go to Sydney for a bushfire themed action with the Sydney rebels (if they are interested)? And other states can join if they feel like it. (Similar to the Tell the Truth actions in recent weeks.)

It doesn’t have to be a huge national thing to be worth doing. It could be smaller but dramatic and visually spectacular.

It will be bushfire season and it’s easier to get something happening in early December than in late December or early January.

But it’s too early for something huge - especially in Victoria.

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Next Rebellion Week

First Step Discussion today (wednesday) 7pm AEST

Let’s have some first step discussions about when the next national week of rebellion will be and what it will look like.
The aim is to set the date before the round of major actions coming up on December 10th.
Please invite your actions organisers!
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5256267275?pwd=eEFid3BKQkswZEZBVXNhNXRZY0Q3UT09
Meeting ID: 525 626 7275
Passcode: 909905

Wave 2 / Next Rebellion Week Dates

On wednesday evening we had a meeting of actions rebels from around Australia, attended by 15 rebels from every state, including:

  • 4 from Adelaide
  • 1 from Hobart
  • 1 from Perth
  • 1 from Newcastle
  • 2 from Melbourne (3 if you count me)
  • 3 from Sydney
  • 3 from Brisbane

We discussed when the next week of rebellion should be, with the aim of starting a process to set a date.

We talked about positive criteria for a good date. Criteria raised were:

  • Doing it as soon as possible versus allowing a few months of organizing and mobilising time.
  • Doing it after the heat of summer but before the cold of winter.
  • Avoiding school holidays and Easter holidays when lots of people leave the capital cities, and parents are having quality time with their school-aged children.
  • Avoiding invasion Day and other indigenous observances.

Regarding the first point, one group member spoke passionately about the need to get out and rebel as much as we can, and the need to force the government to accept a Citizen’s Assembly on climate asap due to the urgency of the climate emergency and impending mass starvation. However, multiple people urged more time for regeneration after the December actions as well as time to mobilize and organize. I encouraged the tension to be resolved by those with the energy to take action to do so in the time before any weeks of rebellion.

The other points were relatively non-controversial.

A quick temperature check of the group made it clear that March and April were favourite months for the next week of rebellion.

Some suggested preferences in these months was

Group members were asked to go away and take feedback from their actions groups on a date for a week of rebellion in March or April 2021. (NB: For groups who think they don’t have capacity to organize a whole week of rebellion, modify appropriately.)


What Next?

After the meeting, I had a look at the months in question:


If we are to avoid the school holidays, than the whole of April is ruled out apart from the last few days.

I would argue that by looking at the criteria given by the group, a clear favourite emerges of the week starting 22 March. This week avoids school holidays, and does not clash with any other public holidays or Close the Gap day. Any group that wants to rebel for more than a week can continue into the following week which ends with the Easter Holidays. It’s the 12th week of the year, giving groups a good amount of time to organize and mobilize in preparation (and giving more intense action rebels time to plan big actions beforehand in January and February). The school holidays are a week later, giving a logical period in which rebels can have some regen time.

I would therefore encourage rebels to take feedback on the idea of having a week of rebellion in Australia from March 22. A possible alternative I would compare it to would be the week starting on April 26, the day after Anzac Day. Monday April 27 is the public holiday observed in ACT, Qld, SA and WA for ANZAC day so many people will have the day off, but it isn’t the day of memorial services. This week would be suitable if groups feel they want a longer time to organize.

I will be taking feedback from groups around Australia on these dates and hopefully we can come to a conclusion at an All-In meeting about the Extinction Rebellion Australia Mass Mobilisation on Sunday 6th December.

When do you think the next week of Rebellion should be?

  • March 22 - 28
  • April 26 - May 2
  • Other (comment below)

0 voters

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I made an action network form you can share with people to poll them (if they don’t use the Base):

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