Margaret Howes,
Empire Vale
I recently enjoyed a night out at the Star Court Theatre to see that amazing film Rock the Gate.
Lismore was packed, there were people everywhere, and the Star Court was full to bursting with our vibrant anti-CSG community. There were musicians in the arcade, knitting nanas, people in fancy dress and everyone laughing and enjoying themselves. The bar was full, the theatre was full and the whole evening was a buzz.
I feel absolutely privileged to be part of this northern rivers community and to have met such an amazing bunch of people united against the gas companies. It has really brought out the best community spirit in everyone, so much so that the NSW northern rivers is now the talk of America.
Jeremy Buckingham, the member of parliament, and Drew Hutton, Lock the Gate Alliance president, were just back from JB’s tour of the USA.
They told us that towns like Wyoming, which featured in the cowboy-and-Indian films of our youth, have hundreds of noxious gas wells dotted among the houses, noisy compressor stations only 200 metres away and unsightly power lines – not to mention the contaminated aquifers and waterways. Too late! The cowboy’s dream is broken and so is Wyoming along with Arizona, Texas and hundreds of other places in the USA.
Local government’s greatest challenge in Australia is going to be the coal-seam gas and open-cut coal mines of the future, but where were our elected representatives and the aspirants at Rock the Gate? Once again I only saw councillors Jenny Dowell, Simon Clough and Jeff Johnson. There seems to be an endless boycott because it is perceived to be a Greens issue.
Come on you would-be leaders. Leave politics aside and get among the throng – join the community and join the fight!
