Last week Nannas attended two events in support of First Nations People: The National Sorry Day Rally and a rally outside Empire Energy’s AGM. Empire Energy are one of the companies planning to frack the Beetaloo Basin to export gas from the Northern Territory.
National Sorry Day Rally: No More Stolen Generations!
Sydney Knitting Nannas were invited to attend the Sorry Day Rally on 27 May outside NSW Parliament. We were pleased to stand in solidarity with Aboriginal communities as they called for an end to the removal of Aboriginal children from their families.
The Elders have spoken: No more stolen generations. This is the call
- Stop forced removals of Aboriginal children
- Repeal the youth bail laws in NSW
- Implement community-controlled solutions now.
Powerful, strong voices of Elders, grandmothers and mothers spoke at the big rally. It’s 27 years since the Bringing Them Home Report exposed the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their homes. Very few recommendations have been implemented.
Since then Aboriginal children in out of home care has increased more than six times, with more than 20,000 children now in the system. The pollies know what to do, and speakers at the Sorry Day Rally told them again. Positive programs for families provided by Aboriginal community organisations have worked wherever they’ve been implemented with proper resourcing.
Discriminatory practices persist in child protection systems, with little action taken to empower community-controlled organisations. At the same time harmful “law and order” policies contribute to rising youth incarceration rates. The recent changes to the NSW bail laws will result in more Aboriginal children being locked up – the Premier confirmed this as he pushed the laws through parliament.
Sydney Knitting Nannas support the Elders calls for self-determination and Survivor-led solutions.
Empire Energy AGM rally
Some Nannas attended this rally on Tuesday before heading off to Canberra.
Empire Energy has purchased a gas processing facility from AGL. They want to be the first of several companies to produce gas from the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory. Their aim is to be in production in the next 12 months. The Beetaloo Basin is the third largest shale gas deposit on earth.
Knitting Nannas were outside the AGM for speeches and chants. Traditional Owners from the Beetaloo went into the AGM to speak truth to power. Sadly most of us had to miss the march to APA’s offices to protest against the Beetaloo gas pipeline because we had to leave for our action days in Canberra.
Nannas are listening to
Climate Community – The latest episode on 31 May is about the Nannas in Canberra
Nannas are watching
Knitting the Revolution – Australia’s Coal Seam Gas extraction has an opponent that was never expected: meet the Knitting Nannas, and their unlikely weapon, a pair of knitting needles. SBS OnDemand
A video explaining a reason to think the planet may not be doomed. It affirms the importance of going all out to stop new fossil fuel projects while speeding up renewable energy projects.
The mind-blowing thing we get WRONG about energy (youtube.com)