Tweed locks gates

THE MURWILLUMBAH Showgrounds will host a national day of action against coal seam gas mining this Saturday, October 13.

With a rally (10am), a march (11pm) and a concert (1pm), it follows in the large footsteps of the Rock the Gate rally and concert in Lismore last May where 7000 people showed their opposition to CSG mining in the Northern Rivers.

Sam McLean (National Director of Get Up!), Drew Hutton (Lock the Gate), and Carlyrose Watson (a concerned eight-year old) are among the many speakers.

And there is a huge line-up of performers - Pete Murray, Natalie Pa'apa'a from Blue King Brown, The Haight Ashbury Show and many more.

"Everyone is giving their time for free," organiser Michael McNamara told The Echo. "This event is an opportunity for Northern Rivers residents to demand the Northern Rivers remain gasfield free," he said. "The 'gasfield-free' movement shows that there is no social licence for CSG mining in the Northern Rivers. As did the Lismore plebiscite on CSG mining…"

But the NSW Government has other ideas.

On Tuesday, the NSW Minister for Resources and Energy, Chris Hartcher, told the Australian Petroleum and Production Association's Coal Seam Gas Conference that "we are now entering the decade of gas". The minister stressed that CSG mining is necessary for NSW's future despite opposition from 'ideologically driven groups'. "If we are unable to access gas the lights will go out. It's as simple as that," Mr Hartcher said.