Armidale residents at Act Up #3

On Monday the 31st of March, five Armidale residents joined nearly 100 others in an unprecedented non-violent direct action against the expansion of Whitehaven’s Maules Creek Coal Mine. The expansion will destroy approximately one third of the Leard State Forest, which is habitat to over 30 endangered animal species, including the koala and sugar glider. Furthermore, the carbon emissions created by this mine will be double the amount the Coalition is aiming to sequester, based on the Direct Action Policy. Preparations for the action began the week prior with a series of meetings and workshops on issues including non-violent direct action principles, managing vicarious trauma, and legal rights of activists.

Vanessa Bible, a UNE postgraduate student was a driver in a pre-dawn convoy that delivered approximately 70 people at the gates of the Whitehaven mine, which still fails to release any carbon offset plan for the expansion. A variety of people travelling from across NSW, QLD, and Victoria took part in the action and voiced their concerns of the coal industry’s exacerbation of global warming as well as impacts on biodiversity, rivers downstream and the aquifers on which farmers and ecosystems rely. Their message was clear: Australia cannot afford to delay action on climate change, we need to shift to renewable energy now.

Armidale residents Richelle Roberts, Iain McKay and Dr Marty Branagan were part of the large crowd of people who entered the compound where Whitehaven’s enormous earth-moving vehicles are kept. The group set-up banners and enormous letters spelling ‘Save the Leard’ a top machinery. A handful locked themselves to the vehicles with D-locks or thick chains. To maintain their spirits during the action, protesters played guitar, didgeridoo, sang, and played frisbee and cricket. As the chilly pre-dawn gave way to the hot day, they sat in the shade of the machines and chatted quietly.

The first arrested was Bill Ryan, a 92 year old veteran of the Kokoda trail, followed through the day by many more people, including an 82 year old retired Professor of Psychology, a previous government lawyer, and many young university students who had travelled long distances to the blockade.

This protest stopped work on the mine site for 8 hours and attracted media attention from ABC Radio Sydney, Newcastle, as well as various local and online media such as The Guardian and The Australian, to name a few. Campaigns for renewable energy and the non-violent direct action against coal expansion will continue, and anyone concerned for the quality of life for future generations is welcome to join the campaign. More information can be found at www.leardstateforest.com