A CALL for action on climate change has rung out across central Victoria.
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About 600 people marched in Castlemaine and 200 met in Bendigo's Rosalind Park on Sunday, as part of nationwide climate rallies.
Organisers of the Bendigo event called on the broader public to make their views heard on the issue.
Nicola Dunnicliff-Wells and Terrie Dempster said they were prompted to add their thoughts on the issue after feelings of frustration.
The two women said they had never previously been involved in environmental or political rallies but felt they needed to speak out about the importance of climate change action.
"It's become a taboo subject," Mrs Dunnicliff-Wells said.
"It's crazy. We should be talking about it and getting important messages out there."
Mrs Dempster said she believed the majority of people were quietly concerned about climate change.
She said the conversation was often drowned out by sceptics or alarmists on either side of the debate, but said there was need for a more measured approach.
"I think regular people are often frightened to speak out about climate change because they're not scientists or they're worried about getting into a politicised debate," she said.
"The whole thing has become a political issue and it shouldn't be."
Bendigo Sustainability president Keith Reynard said the focus should be on the science.
He said the debate had been hijacked by the new federal government for political gain.
"It should be bringing people together and not polarising them," he said.
Bendigo councillor Peter Cox said it was a broad-reaching issue that required local solutions.
"There are important issues here in Bendigo where we can have our say," he said.
"The big debate is should we consolidate in the city or sprawl out. They are important issues to climate change because they relate to the way we live here in Bendigo."
"The issue is too important to ignore."
Mount Alexander Sustainability Group chair Marg Rasa told the crowd gathered in Castlemaine's Botanic Gardens it was time for action.
“People in this region get it that real action is needed not the fudge and fake policies being put forward by the government,” she said.
The protest was part of GetUp’s National Day of Climate Action.
More than 60,000 people were estimated to have joined in events across Australia.