From Lock the Gate Alliance
Local farmers who have been strong supporters of the Doubtful Ck anti-CSG
blockade have gone public in an attempt to clear up false reports
circulating in recent weeks about the impact of the blockade on local
residents. In a letter to Kyogle Council the farmers have also called
on council to support them in their ongoing efforts to stop coal seam gas
activities in their local area.
"We want to set the record straight about this blockade as we are disgusted
at some of the falsehoods that are being pedaled around," said local born
sixth generation farmer, Don Durrant, who has traveled to Chinchilla in
Queensland to see first hand the impacts of the CSG industry on rural
communities.
"There has been a vocal minority claiming to have been abused and
inconvenienced yet I have been in the thick of the action and I have seen
none of this- just people calling out to slow down when some locals are
driving dangerously and aggressively."
"I have only missed three days of the six week blockade and and am
overwhelmed with gratitude to the dozens and dozens of people who have come
and camped in adverse conditions to support us local farmers against this
insidious industry."
"We all have lives to live, families to look after, and farms to run but we
have put these on hold to try to save the necessities of life- our water,
our land, our food supply and the beautiful country that our ancestors
fought and died for," he said.
Local beef cattle and vegetable producer Peter Stackhouse has also been
central to the action at Doubtful Creek.
"I've only missed two days of the blockade when my back was crook as I want
to do everything I can to stop this coal seam gas industry," Peter said.
"How we farmers can help is by giving the logistical support to the people
camping- food and water and hot showers and accommodation when they need
it," he said.
"I have not seen any of the sort of incidents they are talking about in the
media- if I had I would have stopped it," he said.
"No-one has been blocked from accessing their properties- only the public
road and state forest access are being blockaded as we are just here to
stop Metgasco, no-one else."
"This issue encompasses more than just our immediate environs and there are
not enough people in such sparsely populated rural areas to provide
continuous opposition at this type of blockade, so we welcome the input of
people from around the region and beyond."
"We have taken our concerns to Kyogle Council in a letter signed by 21
local landholders as we would like to see more support from our local
council rather than criticism for something we consider to be a job well
done under extremely difficult circumstances," he said.
THEN the local paper spreads lies and deception in order to placate the failing METGASCO FIASCO.
with
Patrick Gorbunovs story in the Northern Star "FARMERS SAY NO"
http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/farmers-say-enough/1776211/#.UT0CjRJZxpw.email
KYOGLE Shire Mayor Ross Brown has called on Doubtful Creek protesters
to move on, following a meeting with frustrated landowners who feel
intimidated by elements of the anti-CSG community.
"They've achieved as much as they can possibly achieve with the protest
action so far. All they're now creating is bad feeling," Cr Brown said
yesterday.
Kyogle Council met with residents from some 15 Doubtful Creek
properties on Thursday, who say they have been negatively affected by
the month-long Knights Rd protest.
The council will now draft a set of protocols to manage any future protests and avoid these kinds of issues happening again.
"Our protocols will address such issues as parking, camping, toilet
facilities, keeping the road free, and working with the protest groups
and keeping the local population as minimally affected by it as we
possibly can," Cr Brown said.
He said some local landowners had reached "the final straw" and had
sought help from the council to take more responsibility for the
situation.
"The crux of the matter was on Tuesday night, a gentleman out there was
trying to get his cattle to market and they blockaded his gate in and
they wouldn't move, and he couldn't get his cattle out," he said.
"They feel harassed, they feel intimated and it's been going on for so long they almost feel like they're under siege."
Cr Brown said the situation had reached the point where it was detrimental to people's state of mind.
"Realistically, if I was involved in a protest now, and being aware of
the way it's been going on, I think those groups should pack up and
move," he said. "The downside to this is now outweighing whatever it is
they think they're picking up."
Lock the Gate spokesman Ian Gaillard said tensions were rising after almost four weeks of protest.
Mr Gaillard said he had successful meetings with both Kyogle Council
and senior Richmond police two weeks ago to discuss concerns about
safety and respect issues at the site.
But he said the trouble lay with the NSW Government.
"The Northern Rivers is becoming a pressure cooker because the State
Government continues to impose this industry on an unwilling community
by force. The onus is on the government to pull back and slow this whole
process down."
My yarn around this issue! ...
All of this is clear. It is easy to see what is going on here. These huge companies will stop at absolutely nothing to try to swindle the unsuspecting Australian who is already too busy to notice the real truth because of a lack of time for self discovery of facts. These people are still relying on the newspaper or the Television to tell them the truth. Paint the picture, they get up at the crack of dawn and deal with irrate people all day in their small business, they rush around with young children to and from day care and school and extra curricula activities, attempt shopping and eat and do it all over again the next day, there is no time to find out what is going on in the rest of the country and this is replicated right across the nation.
Some how, these are the huge group of Australians who missed the bit where these large companies started monopolizing the media outlets across Australia. They missed this and are still blindly going on what they are being fed as what is known to us who do understand and the rest of the world over as "Spin". Company spin is what is being broadcast as news. It is hard to find a good journalist who prints the truth.
These types of publications that do speak truth are out there ie Echonetdaily and Terrania Times etc and various websites where truth can be found around these huge issues. But, if you are one of those busy people you really have to take some time with this as this is the biggest environmental disaster enveloping the entire nation.
If you are reading this blog and you know some one that fits this bill I have described above, they are usually the most hard working people in the neighbourhood, go and help them understand the truth. Take a video or two and a bag of popcorn and a beer even if you have to, but go and help!
If all of Australia did this we would spread the truth of this Gas matter like wild fire. We need a national week of educate a friend week. A week we all dedicate time that week to tell someone and interact with someone who needs some education on Coal Seam Gas Mining and the general state of the lax way in which these licenses have been handed out and the fact that none of us receive a thing for this for five years and by then we will be in a lot of trouble if this is not stopped by the time that five years is up.
Go and tell a new friend at least this week. The mother is asking for your help - help her where you can in any small way, the planet knows when you care.
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