THE TWEED www.tweedecho.com.au Volume 3 #36 Thursday, May 19, 2011 PAGE 12 Advertising and news enquiries: Phone: (02) 6672 2280 [email protected] [email protected] CAB 21,000 copies every week AUDIT LOCAL & INDEPENDENT Thousands march against CSG mining Luis Feliu nounced a moratorium on fracking. One of the keynote speakers at More than 3,000 people voiced their the rally was Queensland farmer outrage against coal-seam gas (CSG) Drew Hutton, the president of the mining on Saturday at Murwillum- newly-formed national Lock the bah in one of the biggest rallies ever Gate Alliance which is taking action seen in the Northern Rivers. to stop drilling for CSG in southern The controversial ‘fracking’ method Queensland. used to extract underground gas by Mr Hutton said hundreds of farm- the CSG industry has tapped a raw ers in the area where coal companies nerve among the many protesters, were actively exploring for CSG had including farmers, families, environ- joined the alliance and ‘locked the mentalists, Aboriginal elders, tourism gate’ on mining company representa- operators, and blue and white col- tives wanting to explore or negotiate lar workers, who have united against for drilling rights. what they see as the biggest threat to He said some of the ‘most coura- Australia’s environment. geous’ of all protesters were the people A long colourful stream of protest- of the Tara estate where the CSG pipe- ers waving placards and chanting line is being built under their homes, anti-CSG slogans stopped traffic as as some of them had been arrested by they snaked down the town’s CBD police as a result of the blockade. from Knox Park, spilling over on to ‘When our leaders fail us as they’ve the road from the pavement. done in Queensland, and federally, On return to the park they were then ordinary people have to become addressed by a range of speakers in- heroes’, Mr Hutton said. cluding farmers and residents from ‘Tara will go into Australian his- the Northern Rivers and Queensland, tory because people there will become where CSG mining has already start- International environmental activist Benny Zable stood out in the colourful crowd last Saturday as a chilling heroes as they take up the struggle, ed and faces huge opposition, includ- harbinger of a future under coal-seam gas. Photo Jeff ‘Frackwit’ Dawson because the precautionary principle ing a blockade of the construction of had been totally misapplied with CSG a CSG pipeline through a residential ment agencies want a moratorium till Spokesman Michael McNamara been dealt with properly in terms of mining. estate at Tara in central Queensland. the method is proved safe. said the wide variety of community regulation and legislation. ‘We’ll apply our own moratorium They heard how almost every The region’s three new state gov- and industry groups ‘speaking with The MLC, who beat Pauline Han- on this industry till it’s proved safe for council in the region has called for a ernment MPs, the National Party’s one voice’ showed clearly the strong son to the post for the last Upper the environment.’ moratorium on CSG mining, which Thomas George in Lismore, Don community concern with CSG min- House seat at the recent state elec- Mr Hutton was arrested by police at threatens to contaminate the coun- Page in Ballina and Geoff Provest in ing. tion, said he would ‘fight tooth and Tara a few weeks ago after sitting on a try’s underground water table and its Tweed, as well as federal Richmond Greens MLC Jeremy Buckingham nail’ against CSG mining altogether bulldozer during the blockade action. food producing capacity. MP Justine Elliot, did not turn up told the rally that the first thing he ‘otherwise they will turn our most ‘They say you have to have a rea- They were also told that evidence is to the rally despite being invited by did on entering parliament this year productive farmland into a “gasland”,’ sonable excuse for trespassing, well growing in the US where it first began organisers. was to introduce a Bill in the Upper referrring to the US documentary of I’m saying that saving the planet is a that CSG’s use of ‘fracking’ (fracturing House calling for a moratorium on all the same name which has alerted peo- pretty reasonable excuse,’ he said to rocks using chemical reactions) to One voice new gas exploration licences pending ple around the world to the dangers of loud cheers and applause from the extract gas from underground coal Organisers of the rally, the North- an inquiry. CSG mining. big crowd. seams is a serious threat to aquifers. ern Rivers Guardians (NRG) and Mr Buckingham, the Greens’ min- Mr Hutton said he faced a $50,000 A range of toxic chemicals, including Caldera Environment Centre, say ing and resources spokesman, said Countries act on CSG fine ‘but I couldn’t care if it was a 10 some known carcinogens, are used in the huge turnout on Saturday sent governments ‘don’t want to know’ Just this week, the French parlia- cents fine because this is a bad law this process to release the gas. a strong and clear message to gov- about the dangers of CSG to their ment voted to ban hydraulic frac- which leads to the desecration of our Opponents say CSG is the new ernment and mining companies that ‘eternal shame’. turing or fracking in the shale-coal whole country, and for that I won’t ‘gold’ for mining and want a total ban the community is dead against this He said the industry has ‘really gas industry while in South Africa pay a cent’. on it while other groups and govern- industry. slipped through the cracks’ and not last month, the government also an- continued on page 2 <echowebsection=Local News> Local News JUST IN: APPLES NEW INTEL i5 & i7 iMACS ALL WITH 100% QUAD-CORE POWER! 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