Coal Miners invade Gamilaraay country
Traditional owner Paul Spearim speaks with environmental engineer Trevor Berrill and PShift’s Ian Curr about moves by Whitehaven Coal, Idemitsu, Boggabri Coal and Santos to invade Gamilaraay country and to destroy the environment in the process. Includes interview with Steve Talbott about miners unlawful destruction of aboriginal sacred sites. [Broadcast on PShift Friday at Noon 4ZZZ fm 102.1] 17 Jan 2014.
See 4ZZZ on demand for entire show –
http://ondemand.4zzzfm.org.au/the-paradigm-shift/2014-01-17
Front line Action on Coal Continues the Blockade against the coal expansion by Whitehaven Coal at Boggabri/Maules Creek, it’s been going for over 530 Days!
Water is more precious than coal
Watch as the blockaders continue their defence of Leard State Forest against construction work by Whitehaven Coal for its Maules Creek coal mine.
Video by Liam Kesteven.
The blockade of Leard forest is starting its eleventh day this morning, and I was woken by rain falling on my face, and the smell of the earth getting wet. Thank goodness, we are getting a break from the extreme heat for the next few days.
There have been many people from far afield here at the blockade over the last ten days, and we are getting ongoing and invaluable support from the local people of Maules Creek who have campaigned against this mine for years.
I think that ten people have so far been arrested holding up work on the construction of the mine, though I am starting to lose count. They have been people from Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, the Midnorth coast and Hunter regions of NSW, men and women, ranging in age from 20 to 64, all united in their purpose to make a stand against the loss of Leard forest to open cut coal mining.
As things go so far, we have had some success. Whitehaven’s construction work is still in its early stages: preparing roads, water pipes and electrical transmission lines. They have not yet begun trying to clear Leard State Forest, though some forest on adjacent lands has been pushed through for roads. This means we have time to build up numbers and prepare before we have to throw everything we have at them. In the last few days, a large and menacing bulldozer has been brought on site, and the first attempt by Whitehaven cut a new road through some of the Leard State Forest itself may be hours away. The team here are working hard to stay on top of what Whitehaven are doing, maintain two camps and win the daily battles with electricity and heat, continue launching action to frustrate the construction work, and prepare ourselves for the large numbers of you that we hope are coming over the weekend and early next week for the activities on 28th January.
Attempts so far to dislodge the long-term camp that has maintained protest here for over 500 days have failed, though Narrabri Council on Tuesday passed a motion instructing Council’s General Manager to take whatever action she could to remove us and the nearby Pilliga camp. It’s not clear at this stage what action the Council will take, or when, but we are making plans and preparation for the large numbers that will be arriving over the weekend to camp on the property of one of the Maules Creek farmers, so we won’t have to worry about last minute site emergencies.
If people ask you, “when should I go out?” the answer is “as soon as you can.” We are trying to amass large numbers for Tuesday, which means being here on Monday, but in truth we need people out here from now on to help us prepare for the big gathering, and also keep scouting and being ready for action against the clearing.
If people ask you “where should I go?” at this point, tell them to head out to the forest via the Kamilaroi Highway and the Manilla Road. We will have a tent established at the Iron Bridge where Manilla Road crosses the Namoi giving people maps and directions.
I haven’t done a big media compilation, but I think it’s fair to say we’re getting lots of the right kind of attention for this campaign. Daily stories in the Northern Daily Leader, NW Courier, ABC North West, have told the story that needs to be told, as have the more far reaching stories by AAP, the SMH and New Matilda. No Fibs continues to publish daily reports on the twitter feed of #leardblockade and is recruiting on-ground citizen journalists to report from the blockade, as they did for the seat of Indi at the last Federal election.
For those wondering, Greg Hunt has still not acted on the Gomeroi request for a stop work order to protect their sites, but the Gomeroi had a small victory when the NSW Department of Planning told them that they were investigating allegations that a scar tree has been damaged, and work had stopped on that part of the site while the investigations were underway. The scar tree damage was found by #leardblockade activists. We’ll be joining Traditional Owners at a protest march in Gunnedah tomorrow. We have also still not seen the review of Whitehaven’s offsets which was lodged with the Environment Department at the end of December. If that report supports independent ecologists’ claims that the approval for this mine was based on false and misleading information, then Hunt has the ability to revoke the approval.
We’re looking forward to seeing you all out here in the lead up to and on 28 January. The big day is not an end point, so make arrangements if you can to stick around and be part of history for a little longer.
from under the lightning,
george
—
Georgina Woods
0437 405 932
Seven hours south-west of here in central NSW, a group of traditional owners, farmers and people from all over the country who are concerned about a destructive coal mine are starting their 13th day of the Leard Forest Blockade. They’ve been fighting this coal mine every way they can, every step of the way and now they are putting their bodies on the line.
They’re blockading the construction of the Maules Creek Mine and right now, they need our help.
Go to the blockade. More than anything, right now, they need people on the ground.
They need money. Blockades aren’t cheap to run and court costs for all the arrests won’t be cheap either. Donations can be made here (put Leard in the description).
Come along to the information evening and find out exactly what’s going on and how you can help from Brisbane: Thursday 30 January, 7-9pm at the Maida Lilley Community Centre, 5 Green Square Close Fortitude Valley.
If you need any more convincing that this is worthy of your support, take a minute to read this piece by Maules Creek Farmer Phil Laird -> http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/24/this-australia-day-us-underdogs-will-fight-big-coal-to-save-maules-creek
With thanks,
Shani, Ivan and the six degrees crew
It’s almost been a four year campaign for environmentalist groups and the local community and on Monday they’ve come together to set up a blockade at the Leard State Forest preventing coal mining companies from clearing the land. In december The Maules Creek project was approved by the federal Government in December and construction has begun. Traditional owners have accused the company of going behind their backs and ignoring their concerns over the desecration of the burial sites at the Leard State Forest. Brisbane Line (4ZZZ) reporter Pak Yiu reports.
We sought comment from Whitehaven Coal Limited, however they were unable to get back to us in time.
The bulldozers are moving in, and so are we.
Whether you can stay for a couple of days, or weeks, NOW is the time to get to the Leard forest in NSW, to support local communities and people across the country who are challenging Whitehaven’s proposed coal expansion.
Details are still unfolding so please keep an eye on this page.
People are welcome at camp at any time, though we are encouraging a mass community convergence from the 25th-28th JANUARY.
If you can get there earlier, traditional custodians, the Gomeroi people have also invited us to attend an event on Friday 24th, 11:00 am – Meet at Red Chief Memorial Abbott Street and walk to Wolsley Park, Gunnedah NSW.
Workshops, skillshares, training for nonviolent direct action will be happening over the Saturday – Monday; and a large peaceful community event will happen on Tuesday 28th.
More information: http://leardstateforest.tumblr.com/ & http://act.350.org/event/summer_hea… & http://frontlineaction.wordpress.com/…
This event is being supported and coordinated by the local community and a large alliance of nongovernment organisations.
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Leard+state+forest&hl=en&ll=-30.627277,150.328674&spn=0.796473,1.234589&hq=Leard+state+forest&t=m&z=10
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