Nannas joined the rally against the two new NSW anti-protest laws and met with forest protectors from northern NSW during the week.
Rally Against the Minns government’s new anti-protest bill
On Monday 17 February Nanna Eury was one of the speakers at a spirited rally against the NSW government’s moves to further restrict the right to protest in NSW. Eury told the crowd at Sydney Town Hall about the reasons we have joined human rights and activist groups in opposing the proposed legislation.
“Knitting Nannas will continue to protest – we have to. As climate and environment activists we speak for future generations because politicians are listening to fossil fuel lobbyists in a climate emergency. There is very little time left for the warnings of climate scientists and ecologists to be truly taken on board in our parliaments.” She went on to say……….
Around 200 protesters from many organisations were present, including from Amnesty International. There was a strong police presence, with one Nanna remarking that there were not that many more protesters than police. St Andrews Cathedral’s bells rang throughout the rally.
After long debates, the government bills finally passed both houses of parliament very late on Thursday. The Human Rights Law Centre has produced a clear summary of the new anti-protest and hate speech laws at state and federal levels.
Bob Brown Foundation Forest Rally
The Bob Brown Foundation’s weekly rallies are proving to be an excellent way for Sydney Nannas to meet up with determined people from the forest frontlines.
At this Wednesday’s rally we heard from Suzie Russell, of the North-East Forest Alliance and Michael Jones, an ecologist from the Bellingen Environment Centre. They’d travelled to the city to meet up with MPs in parliament to keep up the calls for native forest logging to stop.
Inside parliament the loggers are tramping the halls trying to diminish and delay the Great Koala National Park. So, the forest protectors are fighting back and talking with every MP who’ll listen.
Speaking at the rally they reminded us and people passing on Macquarie Street why we should treasure our forests. It’s a story of how the forests protect us, the climate, water and soils, as well as koalas, gliders and other creatures we love.
The escalation of native forest logging by the Minns government continues in the North-East forests in spite of it driving the extinction of koalas and gliders, and the huge financial losses of the Forestry Corporation. We need to keep up the pressure on the Minns government in every way we can.
The March in March for Forests is the next big chance for anyone who cares about forests and biodiversity to put pressure on the NSW and federal governments. It will be a National Day of Action, perfectly timed for the lead up to the federal election.
The Sydney march will start at the Hyde Park fountain on Sunday, 23 March at 10.30. It was great fun last year – a big crowd with lots of great costumes parading through Sydney streets. One for the diaries.
Pilbara Rock Art Talk at Australian Museum
The Rock Art on Burrup Hub, 1,500 miles north of Perth, is threatened by gas industry plans to extend the life of Australia’s largest gas processing infrastructure by 50 years. The extension is key to the development of the massive Browse gas mining projects.
The Rock Art is the world’s oldest art gallery and dates from before the last ice age. It represents ancient stories and is significant to the Aboriginal Songlines which connect the whole the country. The artworks show the relationship to water and country and provide guidance to Traditional Owners. There are moves to have the Rock Art listed as a World Heritage Site.
There has been disruption of the site since 1963 with WA government approval in spite of Traditional Owners’ objections. Eighty per cent of the artworks have survived destruction from Rio Tinto mining.
Woodside has set up liquification plants in the area which are damaging the rock art. Nitrous oxide in the air makes this one of the southern hemisphere’s most polluted areas. The acid rain erodes the artwork on the surface of the rocks.
Ironically, the Aboriginal Corporation relies on Woodside, the destroyers of their land and culture, for financial support. The corporations pay for archaeological surveys, but do not share their findings.
Woodside, Chevron, BHP, BP and Shell are all producing from Burrup Hub, Australia’s largest LNG export facility. Australia’s LNG production is expanding, and is now equal to Qatar, with sixty per cent from WA, and one third from the NW Shelf through Burrup Hub. An extension is being sought to 2070, producing 4.3 billion tonnes of CO2.
Environment Minister Plibersek has the final say on the extension of the leases and it was expected she would have announced a decision by now. It was good to hear this week that she has delayed her decision until the end of March because she is waiting for further documentation related to the rock art.
Tuesday, 25 February – 12 March – NSW Parliament Budget Estimates
Nannas will be attending the following sessions to watch Ministers and public servants answer questions related to climate, the environment, fossil fuel projects and native forests. Some enlightening moments come from the detailed questioning of Ministers and public servants by Upper House MPs, but the hearings can also be frustrating or boring. Knitting helps us through the sniping and interjections, and we do learn a lot. It’s not necessary to go to Parliament, anyone can watch the webcast live online or watch a recording posted the following day.
Tuesday, 25 February 9.15am – Agriculture, Regional & Western NSW – Tara Moriarty
Wednesday, 26 February 9.15am – Premier Minns
Monday, 3 March 9.15am – Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, Heritage – Penny Sharpe
Tuesday, 4 March 9.15am – Planning and Public Spaces – Paul Scully
Thursday, 6 March 9.15am – Natural Resources – Courtney Houssos
Friday, 7 March 9.15am – Water – Rose Jackson
Full list of sessions here: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/Pages/budget-estimates.aspx
(photo March 12)
Nannas are watching
Nannas are reading
Blood money behind government’s forest destruction – In 2019 and 2020, NSW Forestry Corporation clear-felled 14,440 square metres of mature native hardwood forest, part of Bindarri National Park. (Echo)
Melbourne activist can’t rely on evidence from climate experts to defend protest charges, court finds. The defence relied on expert reports on the severity of global heating and the history of civil disobedience being used to affect political change. (The Guardian)
Clouds Creek Forest protectors convicted – The magistrate imposed criminal convictions to be recorded for each of the defendants whose non-violent protest actions to protect local wildlife were deemed a ‘serious criminal offence’. (Echo)
Forthcoming Events