18 SEPTEMBER:

There’s
#NoTurningBack

The recovery from the Covid crisis could be the moment where we begin to solve the climate crisis and build a society that actually works for everyone. But not if we keep letting big business call the shots.

This is our window to fight for a recovery that works for all of us. And on September 18, young people all over the country will take action to fight for a society that’s better than the one we had before this crisis.

We refuse to go back to when millions of people lived uncertain and unstable lives. We can have good jobs, great public services and a safe climate for all and we’re going to fight for it.

Together we have the skills, resources and time to solve the climate crisis.

But instead of working for each other to create a world that works for all of us, we need to compete with each other for underpaid jobs just to survive.

We can do better than this. We can rebuild our economy so that it works for all of us. We can have secure and well-paid jobs, universal public services and a safe climate.

Central to our demands is a Climate Jobs Guarantee: a federally funded, locally administered program that would end involuntary unemployment for good.

But that’s not all a Climate Jobs Guarantee could do. A Climate Jobs Guarantee could revitalise our communities by adding capacity to struggling public services, it could help to end homelessness by building new public housing and it could solve the climate crisis by transforming our communities with sustainable infrastructure.

A Climate Jobs Guarantee, paired with a permanent increase in JobSeeker and an ambitious agenda of clean energy infrastructure could usher in a new age of health and dignity for all of us.

The old normal was built to work for big business, not for us. We could emerge from the covid crisis better than ever before. But only if we fight for it.

By taking our democracy back from big business we can get to work for each other instead of creating more wealth for the 1%. We can build a world with dignity and justice for all, where we live meaningful and fulfilling lives in harmony with our planet and each other.

Get Involved:

Pledge to join #NoTurningBack on September 18 and we will be in touch with the next steps.

Organise An Action:

For the day to be a success we need people all over the country to organise an action in their community. Whether you’re a seasoned organiser or a first-timer, we will provide resources and support to help make your action a success.

Find An Action:

We demand a recovery that works for all of us.

We need a recovery that puts people ahead of big business and focuses on restarting our communities, not protecting corporate profits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Actions don’t have to be big to be powerful. We ask that all actions organised for No Turning Back take appropriate physical distancing measures and follow the restrictions in their state or territory.

We know that no activities are without risk during this time, but our future is at stake and we can’t afford to just wait while big business uses this crisis to grab even more power.

Big business are pushing for a gas expansion that would be a disaster for our climate and negotiating industrial relation changes that will make work even less secure. Big business has direct access to politicians that young people don’t. To make our voices heard and fight for a recovery that works for all of us, we have no choice but to take to the streets.

For more information about how to make sure your action is covid safe, please read this factsheet.

In September the temporary measures that the government introduced to help people through the coronavirus crisis are set to expire (Jobseeker Coronavirus Supplement being cut and Jobkeeper being cut for casuals). Hundreds of thousands of people will be pushed back into poverty when their income support is cut. We will be using this moment to say we refuse to go back to an unemployment, housing and climate crisis. Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg are putting the profit of big business ahead of the needs of people, but it doesn’t have to be this way. We can have a recovery that works for all of us and we are going to fight for good jobs and a safe climate for all.

We support the School Strike for Climate and encourage members of Tomorrow Movement to join their day of action “Build Our Future” on September 25.

We organised our action before the school strike was called and are encouraging our members to go ahead. We are fighting for economic and climate justice. We are specifically timing it around the time that Jobseeker payments are being cut. To show that young people are protesting these measures and are envisioning a fairer future. This is a turning point and we need to build a society that works for everyone.

There is no such thing as too many actions!

No Turning Back is a national day of action coordinated by Tomorrow Movement, an unstoppable movement of young people fighting for good jobs, great public services and a safe climate for all. Local actions can be organised by anyone who commits to follow the principles of Tomorrow Movement for the action.

Tomorrow Movement is building groups all over the country to end the influence of big business on our politics and win a Climate Jobs Guarantee. But we can’t take our democracy back from powerful corporate interests on our own, and we are working in coalition with a number of groups and organisations. If you would like to be a partner for No Turning Back please contact us.

We are calling for a recovery from the covid crisis that puts people first. That means good jobs and a safe climate for all. Our central demand is a Climate Jobs Guarantee: a federally funded, locally administered program that would end involuntary unemployment for good.

With so many people out of work and with our communities in desperate need of investment public services, a Climate Jobs Guarantee could be the linchpin of our recovery plans. A Climate Jobs Guarantee could revitalise our communities by adding capacity to public services, it could end homelessness by building new public housing and it could solve the climate crisis by transforming our communities with sustainable infrastructure.

Our full demands are:

  1. #KeepTheRate and extend it to all – We will not accept people being forced back into poverty or people being denied support because of their visa status. The Federal Government must permanently raise all social security payments to at least the current level of JobSeeker and the Coronavirus Supplement, including all unemployment, youth, parenting and disability payments. All payments must not be conditional on racially discriminatory mutual obligation programs like the Community Development Program or the Cashless Debit Card.
  2. A Climate Jobs Guarantee – The best way to get people back to work after this crisis and ensure that people have a stable, decent and unionised job delivered through a federally funded, locally administered job guarantee. There is plenty of work to be done maintaining our communities, rebuilding vibrant cultural lives and caring for each other. Rather than the indignity of competing with each other for work, let’s work together to build a society that works for all of us.
  3. A Safe Climate – Now is exactly the time to take bold steps to solve the climate crisis and avoid more severe crises in the future. We can build the infrastructure we need to power our lives with renewable energy while caring and providing for each other through bushfires, droughts, storms and other impacts we can no longer avoid.

Together we have the skills, resources and time to solve the climate crisis and build a society that works for all of us. But instead of working for each other to solve the problems we face, we are forced to compete with each other for underpaid jobs just to survive. A Climate Jobs Guarantee would change that.

Young people know that the climate and economic crises we’ve inherited can’t be solved separately. A Climate Jobs Guarantee is a transformative idea to win good jobs and a safe climate for all.

Read more about our vision for a Climate Jobs Guarantee.

A Job Guarantee has already been proposed by a number of groups as the best way out of this crisis, including the United Workers Union, Australian Unemployed Workers Union, and GetUp. The Government could create millions of jobs, end involuntary unemployment and revitalise our communities through the program.