Here & Now with S Sorrensen - June 2

Casino.
Saturday, 2.45pm:

"Get a job!”

A big bloke with too-small jeans and a blue shirt straining at the buttons calls out from inside the pub. His glass of beer looks tiny in his huge hand. He lumbers towards the door, his face florid with blood pressure. Or anger. Or both.

Here's trouble. I don't like confrontation.

I'm standing on the street outside the hotel next to a crowd of people opposed to coal seam gas mining. Around me protesters carry placards and banners. Me, I have no placard, only a notepad.

“Well mate,” I think loudly in reply, “I do have a job. And I'm working now.”

I scribble some notes in my notepad. (Just to emphasise the point.)

On the footpath outside the pub a small girl with a pink dress, princess tiara and fairy wings lets go of her mother's hand and claps as the colourful protest crew congregates in front of her.

And it is colourful. For the girl, the Beef Week Street Parade just got better. Already she's seen big trucks, a pipe band from Newcastle and the Beef Queen. Now this – a huge banner as wide as the road, a man in a long black robe and a gas mask, pretty girls in rainbow colours, and grannies with neatly printed signs and sensible hats.

A woman holding a ‘No Fracking' placard and wearing rather attractive green tights smiles back at the girl and then turns around to expose her own fairy wings. The girl squeals in delight. Her mother laughs at the exchange and grabs the back of the girl's dress – just in case she tries to make a break and join the fairy revolution.

It's a peaceful, quiet protest. There's no shouting or chanting. Just a bunch of people who care. When the protesters had marched down the street with the police escort, people from the crowd had joined them along the way, doubling their number. All sorts of people. Everyone is affected by coal seam gas mining.

Look, a blind man can see that coal seam gas mining is a con. Sure, it will make some people a lot of money, but it's short term and environmentally destructive. That's not what's being said though. No.

We get lied to all the time. Money rules, truth serves.

This gas, which could serve the local community for a thousand years at minimal disruption to the environment, will be sold off as fast as possible so that a company can make a fortune. Then they'll go somewhere else. The ground water will be put at risk to facilitate the mass extraction of the gas. It's not carbon friendly, it's not environmentally friendly – it's profit friendly.

People like me who live near these gas deposits will suffer the consequences. Too bad. What am I going to do? Complain? To who? My government is beholden to big business. Its job is to make a show of decision making. It's just a show. Government is not in power – corporations are.

So what can I do?

Protest. Non-violent protest is our democratic right.

The bloke with the red face seems to realise that. With no response to his heckle he fades back into to the dark of the bar.

I admire these protesters. It takes guts. And they seem happy despite the taunt from the pub; despite their knowing how dire the situation is.

Maybe taking action has its own rewards. Maybe facing your fears makes your life more beautiful. Maybe it's more important to be on the right side than it is to win.

I don't know.

I just know I'm sick of being conned in the interests of someone else's profit.