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Mick Daley was embedded with protestors at Glenugie on Monday, January 7, when police enforced the legal right of coal seam gas mining company Metgasco to commence drilling. This is his report.
LISMORE’S Knitting Nannas Against Gas, and the broader Northern Rivers Lock the Gate communities will feature in an Al Jazeera documentary about Australia’s coal seam gas battles which will screen to millions of viewers worldwide this weekend.
Activist and lecturer in law at Southern Cross University, Aiden Ricketts says the protest, now in its seventh week, will not bow to police pressure. He says the police raid was an expensive “festival of force” by the O’Farrell Government.
LOCAL Area Commander, Superintendent Mark Holahan, has praised the “peaceful” action of protestors at the Glenugie blockade yesterday but defended police action saying 18 “went too far”.
Yesterday 18 protestors were arrested and 25 charges were laid – mostly for resisting/hindering police and public obstruction.
“This is what the future looks like for Metgasco – potentially they face this at every site they go to,” Lismore author and activist Aidan Ricketts declared. “If they want to do this at every drill site for the rest of the year, they’ve got a very big job ahead of them.”
The peaceful action continued a protest which began on Friday against Metgasco performing seismic surveys of an area on the eastern edge of the town.
Up to 20 communities have now signed up to a pledge to protect the region from the industry’s “radical plan to turn the Northern Rivers into gas fields”. The declarations are powerful statements which send a clear political message, says Southern Cross University law and justice lecturer Aidan Ricketts. He said the declarations counter the legal power of coal seam gas companies to force entry to land and make it clear to politicians the political cost of allowing access is unacceptably high.
From Green Left Weekly
Continue Reading → Ricketts said there is a bigger aim for the campaign than just winning an end to CSG mining in NSW. “We are building a large mainstream social movement, activating huge numbers of people who have never been active before.
[…]
In light of recent threats of ASIO and the Federal police spying on environmental campaigners, a new book by author, university lecturer and activism trainer Aidan Ricketts is likely to cause further “interest.” The Activists Handbook: A Step By Step Guide to Participatory Democracy is being launched tomorrow night, Thursday, May 3, […]
Continue Reading → 
I was going to be interviewed for this story but they couldn’t find the key to the Lismore Seven studio… Apologies for the advertisement at the start of the clip.
Continue Reading → 
“A law lecturer is running night classes to teach people how to be effective protesters.” Interview on Seven News
From the Northern Star, April 14, 2012
Continue Reading → THE PETROLEUM industry has condemned an anti-coal seam gas activist training workshop conducted in Lismore this week as a “new low” in the debate.
Brisbane-based Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association Ltd chief […]
The journey from activist to a social change educator seemed a natural progression for Aidan. His campaign work dates back almost 30 years, including a 12-year commitment to the North East Forest Alliance. As an educational designer, Aidan merged these dual talents to ‘help train up other activists [so that] hundreds, […]
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