It’s been one of the great mysteries of the campaign.
Nemo, Dory and Sunny the sun, the friendly climate protesters who manage to follow the prime minister around, well, like a shadow.
Given how tightly the team managing the campaign guard scheduled events, especially on Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull’s side, it’s a marvel how they manage to be in the right place at the right time. Just this week, the seat of Hindmarsh in Adelaide on Monday, in Brisbane on Tuesday.
So what’s their secret? How does Nemo find the PM?
Turns out, like child actors, there are several of them in rotation.
The man playing the sun in Brisbane today, Jason Lyddieth of Solar Citizens, let SBS News in on a few of their tricks of the trade.
Climate protester Jason Lyddieth in Brisbane. Source: SBS News
“We’ve got volunteers all over the country,” Mr Lyddieth said.
“There are solar lovers everywhere and we’re just trying to get solar and renewables as a major issue in this election.”
But we’re in a steel manufacturing plant in Brisbane’s north eastern suburbs, a venue which the travelling media pack only finds out about on arrival. How did they find us?
Mostly through the media’s inability to resist tweeting wherever we are.
“Today we saw a photo that was tweeted by a journalist and it had the name of the factory on it so we got out here as quick as we could,” Mr Lyddieth said.
It does pose a question about security doesn’t it, but that’s what the highly trained AFP personal detail are there for. These guys are allowed to do their thing from a safe distance. One would assume those judged to have less sincere motives would be sized up quickly and kept well away.
Mr Lyddieth said one has to be ready to move straight away, so it’s a good thing that he works for the climate organisation that’s not too fussed if he bolts out in the middle of the work day.
Does he feel he and his volunteers are getting the message across?
“We think the issues are so important they should be the number one issue, with the resource boom ending and the effects of climate change really starting to hit," he said.
"It’s a no-brainer that Australia needs to embrace renewable energy. We wish there was a bit more talk about it.”
