Editorial

Across the globe on Friday we saw young people assert their right to a future which, if left to the political status quo, will be a diminished and impoverished one. Under the leadership of a sixteen-year old Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, now a Nobel Peace nominee, millions of schoolchildren worldwide took to the streets to demand action on climate change. 

Of course, politicians harrumphed indignantly and said that children should be in school. Did they also conveniently forget that fifty years ago many of them were on the streets themselves protesting the Vietnam war?

The leadership of Greta Thunberg is leadership for a new generation: a generation of tech-savvy people who are not hide-bound by outdated ideology, but led by rationality. This small, unassuming young woman has quietly emerged as the leader of a movement to restore respect for the earth and instill a hope for the future. 

At the same time as students were gathering in our own capitals and regional cities, a gunman entered a Christchurch mosque and killed 51 people as they assembled for prayer. 

From the devastation and shock that followed, emerged another example of true leadership in the form of New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. In the hours and days that followed the tragedy, PM Ardern has held her grieving nation together not with the platitudes of 'thoughts and prayers', but with compassion and decisive action. She speaks the language of inclusion, tolerance and love. Language that unites; language that does not contain qualifications or compromises.

The leadership demonstrated by Greta Thunberg and Jacinda Ardern, two completely different young women at opposite ends of the planet, is leadership for the future. We can either follow their examples, or continue following the tired leadership that has given us a ravaged planet and a divided society: climate crisis, exploitation, racism, divisions.

There is a famous quote: "If we don't change direction, we will end up where we are heading." Last week we saw that there is an alternative way. We can change direction. 

We are, as a society, at a crossroad. We can choose to follow a road paved with hope, inclusion and compassion, or a road potholed with hatred, inequality and greed.

Choose wisely.