Climate strike: global climate change protest kicks off in Australia and Pacific – live updates

In Gloucester, NSW we have an early contender for best costume today (the sunflower).

Earlier this year, a court blocked a new coalmine in the region due to the “dire consequences” of increasing emissions in what was a landmark decision.

Our first student on the ground Esther Plummer (13) has sent pictures from Byron Bay.

Protesters are staging a die-in in the centre of Alice Springs.

Traditional owners have stressed the importance of putting Indigenous perspectives at the centre of these protests.

Yesterday Sammy Wilson, a custodian of Uluru and chair of the Central Land Council, announced that the council will join the strike across the Northern Territory.

“Aboriginal people want to be part of the solution,” he said. “We want to have access to clean technologies such as solar power so that our children have the chance to keep living on our traditional country.

“I support their right to take this action [and] I call on them to spare a thought for Aboriginal people out bush who may not be able to travel to the strikes but who are already suffering most during our hotter, longer and drier summers.”

After the NT’s hottest summer on record, delegates at the council meeting last month said climate change and water security were their top policy priorities.