I am a retired school teacher and an ordinary grandmother. Yes, grandmothers are observant, reliable, experienced and caring. We often start off with caring for our family and then extend our love and caring to others.

Believe it or not, I have always been a quietly spoken and reserved person. It was a surprise for me to hear others describing me as a ‘radical activist’.
For over 11 years, chronic back pains had prevented me from doing normal chores, but a ‘miracle’ occurred late 2012 and I was healed overnight.
A couple of years before that, I lost my husband to cancer. I am fortunate to have the love of my two adult children and my young grandsons. With plenty of time on my hands, I took to doing things that keep myself healthy – daily exercise routine and meditation, a bit of socializing, reading, knitting and dabbling with new technology.

However, when I discovered the horrible ways asylum seekers and refugees are treated on Nauru and Manus, I was enraged. I stopped throwing things at the TV and started to join the Grandmothers Against Detention of Refugee Children. Protest marches, contacting and speaking with politicians, weekly ‘Pop-ups’ (standing at street corners with banners and speaking with people in the community)

Sometime in 2015, my attention was drawn to the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef and warming seas. I did research into climate change and was alarmed by the reports from around the world. Then came news about the Adani Carmichael Mine. I was enraged and was outraged.

I decided I must fight for a sustainable planet for my grandchildren and future generations. Locking myself to a gate of the Adani mine in December 2017, was to draw attention to the cause and to appeal to Chinese investors and banks not to invest in the mine. To me it was a urgent action as I heard that Chinese banks were about to fund the Adani mine.

We are facing Climate Emergency, and I will continue to fight for Climate Justice. Would I consider putting my body on the line again? You bet.

Twitter: @AudreyCooke77