Climate change sceptics frustrate University of Wollongong academic Joshua Lobb on a daily basis.
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That's why the senior creative writing lecturer today implored those protesting for urgent action on climate change to do whatever it took to keep the conversation going.
"I'm here today primarily to support the students but I also believe climate change is a really important issue we can all tackle together," Dr Lobb said.
"It can be hard to get the message across. We are caught up in a political system designed not to hear our voices, so I think whatever we can do to keep the conversations going, we need do.
"Whether that be a protest, whether that be a conversation or whether we do something in our own work, we need to keep going so people change their minds and do something to help."
The action at UOW coincided with similar demonstrations run by the National Union of Students (NUS) across the country on Friday.
Wollongong Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA) environment officer Nicholas Ritchie said not enough was being done in the political sphere to support the climate movement.
"We are demanding that there are no new coal, oil or gas explorations starting in the near future and there is no non-renewable energy resources being used by 2030," he said.
"We need to make a transformation of our economy and our energy base to renewable energy in order to effectively survive."
WUSA education officer Isabelle Liddy added "we are at a cataclysmic tipping point in climate change".
"We've got 11 years before we go past irreversible damage to the climate. Time for action is now," she said.
"I think it is important to keep the momentum up and build mass movements because nothing else is going to get done otherwise."
Ritchie added activists weren't discouraged that climate change wasn't in the forefront of most voters minds in the last two elections.
"I feel that the only way any sort of revolutionary social movement has come to fruition is through standing up like this and protesting. I mean we've won marriage equality under a conservative Liberal government, so in essence anything can happen."
Australian Youth Climate Coalition spokeswoman Choeli Cooper said she was sick of the meaningful demands and conversations of climate protesters being masked and overshadowed by cowardly arguments of 'but what about my job", 'but what about the economy' and ' but what about growth'.
"There does not need to be this fallible tipping of the scales between the environment and our economy," Cooper said.
"I, and I'm sure many of you, would put to the Australian government, 'but what about innovation?'. 'What about unprecedented growth via fully harnessing the power of the renewable sector to provide not only jobs, not only a 200 per cent increase in Australia's economy, while also reaching a net zero carbon footprint and securing a future for our future generations."