A member of the climate activist group Restore Passenger Rail vandalized two luxury car dealerships in New Zealand in a protest against inequality and climate change. The protestor targeted a Porsche and a Lamborghini dealership, both operated by the Giltrap Group, in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn. The Restore Passenger Rail group shared photos of the vandalism on its Facebook page in which the windows of the dealerships can seen sprayed with bright red paint and slogans. One slogan read, “your luxuries our floods.” Thankfully, the cars inside the showroom appear to be unharmed.
Restore Passenger Rail spokesperson Joseph J Fullerton claimed luxury cars were symbols of greed and climate change. “These luxury cars symbolise the greed that leads directly to climate breakdown and inequality,” Fullerton said.” Those buying these obscenely expensive cars (up to $600,000) are getting richer whilst fuelling more floods, cyclones, and droughts.”
The Restore Passenger Rail campaign began in October 2022 and continues to stage protests calling for the restoration of a national passenger rail network and free public transport. Giltrap Group’s Dane Fisher said in a statement that the company was disappointed at the vandalism. “While we respect the right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression, we believe that discussions about climate change and inequality can be more productive through dialogue and cooperation rather than acts of vandalism,” Fisher said. There has been a rise of such protests organized by climate change activists across the world over the last few years, creating disruptions everywhere. Last year, activists from a group called Scientist Rebellion glued their hands to the floor of the Porsche pavilion at Volkswagen’s Autostadt museum in Wolfsburg.
