Fighting at the coal face

Taking the message to Canberra were Ian Gaillard, Harry Boyd and Doug Ferguson.

A group of North Coast activists managed to penetrate the corridors of power in Canberra last week to speak to senior ministers and advisors regarding their concerns about the coal seam gas industry.

Keerrong Gas Squad members Ian Gaillard, Doug Ferguson and Ross Pepper accompanied Ngarwakwal Elder Harry Boyd to the nation’s capital, where they met with Environment Minister Tony Burke, and one of Julia Gillard’s senior advisors John McQueen as well as Regional Development Minister Simon Crean’s advisor on coal seam gas, Ben Gusanski, and his chief of staff Michael Clifford.

Harry Boyd had arranged a meeting with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) about restricting access to his family’s archive and also to present a map of Australia’s aquifer system that he holds as “ancient knowledge”. This knowledge he says shows the connectivity of the aquifers and was presented to the powers that be, along with a comprehensive dossier prepared by the Keerrong Gas Squad. The dossier contains submissions from a range of prominent bodies including the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the National Toxics Network, the NSW Office of Water and the National Water Commission.

Keerrong farmer and carpenter Ian Gaillard said he never thought he’d find himself in a position where he was on the frontline of an epic battle over water rights, but was called to action when Arrow Energy started exploratory drilling in the Keerrong Valley last year.

“We find ourselves speaking to elected representatives who don’t know what an aquifer is, state government representatives who have accepted the companies’ self-interested assurances and federal members who have fallen prey to the high-powered lobbying process of mining companies,” he said. “Our basic human rights to clean air and water, as stated in the United Nations Charter, have been usurped by the legislative system and their dealings with the companies.

“How do lay people such as us get though the conflicting layers of government? As of now people need to start doing civil disobedience on coal seam gas across the Northern Rivers. We now have four major companies (Metgasco, Arrow, Red Sky Energy and Macquarie Energy) all operating in the region and seeking to export gas through the Border Ranges National Park to overseas markets, leaving us with a pollution legacy which cannot be recuperated in a millennium.”

The Prime Minister’s advisor John McQueen “wanted to pass the buck back to the states” Ian said, but confirmed that the federal government had signed off on 40,000 coal seam gas wells in the Surat and Bowen basins and had approved an LNG (liquid natural gas) venture on Curtis Island (near Gladstone).