2014-06-01
Jonathan Cassell
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, its the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead.
Bentley valley is 15km west of Lismore in Northern NSW and is a land in serious danger of unconventional gas mining. I am writing to share some of my experience while I was there over last weekend and to encourage you to get behind the everyday people across the country protecting Australian soils, water and democracy.
Australians from many different backgrounds are coming together to reject unconventional gas mining. At Bentley, the camaraderie between people felt amazing — people, whose lives could not be more diverse, standing as one united force of resistance against an enemy. To witness farmers mingle with tradesman, middle-class house wives with their stylish hair bobs chat to proud grey-haired nannies knitting beanies in the Lock the Gate colours of yellow and black, to immigrants from Sudan and Asia mixing with a wide contingent of Aboriginal people and hardened white Australians all holding our 'democracy' accountable. What cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead eloquently refers to as a thoughtful and committed small group.
What I witnessed, I believe, was a deeply empowered people united by a deep sense of collective disempowerment. This issue is so big, it reaches across a wide diversity of people and any prejudice or stereotypes are overlooked and people stand equally together. Imagine the land that surrounds you — with its bird calls and vegetation — and if your land rested peacefully upon a thin seam of coal. Imagine, then, the Earth directly under you shattered by explosives. At Bentley, the valley is pristine farm land with some of the richest top soils in Australia. The water that feeds this area is particularly important since it feeds not just livestock and local people including the township of Lismore but is the source for the abundance of life in this area. Unconventional gas will seriously risk this and, so, with their way-of-life at stake the thousand plus people camping at Bentley trusted each other deeply. In light of Chief Seattle's quote, it is worth considering that only when faced with the destruction of their life do people comprehend the significance of life. What, then, is felt when the climate — that has been stable for the rise of agriculture — changes?
Bentley is only one of the front lines fighting for Australia's democratic system and the role 'big interests' has in politics. In Maules Creek NSW, for example, 92-year-old Kokoda veteran Bill Ryan has been arrested for fighting again for democracy. Bill Ryan served in World War II fighting for Australia's freedom and he has said that he is again fighting for it. The weekend I was there, we expected a strike force of between 600-700 police to descend to break up unconventional gas blockades at the Piliga Forest, Laird Forest and Bentley.
Corruption of democracy is a hot topic and recently on the ABC radio show The World Today, they interviewed retired NSW State and Federal MP Rob Oakeshott who said "people need to be aware that right at the heart of our policy making is the corruption of our democracy with political donation problems and that is why, for example, political parties can ignore the very best science and the economics on climate change. That's exactly why in my view the best you can do is empower the voter."
This empowerment within and between people at Bentley is alive. As Australian citizens, I believe, we have to all enlist in defending Australia's democracy and become increasingly participatory. In other words, participating in democracy through direct action renews our culture and will always change the world. Management of Australia's environment, for example, should be based at least on Human Rights and not as a regulatory device that simply limits risks to people and planet. How we treat the planet reflects how we treat each other. Imagine if Nature had rights? Some countries in the world do recognise that nature has rights also and that 'she' depends on clean ecological services such as water and air to sustain and evolve 'herself'.
While I was at Bentley for only a couple of days, the collective organisation for resistance was striking. The effort of volunteers to run camp liberty and muscle-up on infrastructure was incredible. The main gate was a heavily barricaded apparatus and sophisticated in design so as to be a major political deterrent. It could be that in order for the police to break up the main gate it would have taken a lot longer than the police commissioner would want to spend time on and, strangely, there are OH&S issues to contend with. In order to maintain community resilience, informed and creative efforts happen regularly. Over the weekend, I was fortunate enough to attend the 'Gigs not Rigs' concert that happens every two weeks to raise donations and community spirit. Also, Xavier Rudd - one of Australia's best independent musicians - turned up on Monday night and played a rocking performance.
So, please get behind this issue and become as active as possible in our participatory democratic system — as opposed to simply talking about how crap it is. The victory at Bentley was just the begining of the campaign. For me, going to Bentley and having firsthand experience made for a very meaningful weekend — even in the morning rain.
Jonathan Cassell
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