The NSW union movement and Lock the Gate Alliance are backing Gomeroi Traditional Owners and uniting for a two-day protest convoy against Santos’ Narrabri Gas Project and associated Hunter Gas Pipeline.
Dozens of concerned North West NSW locals and their allies will travel from Narrabri to Newcastle over two days along the 400 km-long route of the proposed Hunter Gas Pipeline, visiting impacted communities along the way.
The “Picket the Pipeline” convoy will end with a protest in Newcastle that’s expected to draw hundreds of demonstrators who oppose Santos’ destructive plans.
The convoy comes as Gomeroi Traditional Owners return to the Native Title Tribunal, after an appeal to the Federal Court found an earlier determination by the tribunal should have considered climate change when considering whether the project was in the public interest.
Gomeroi Traditional Owner Karra Kinchela said, “Gomeroi Mob are united against Santos’ Narrabri Gas Project. We don’t want hundreds of coal seam gas wells drilled into the sacred Pilliga Forest, clearing the trees, and poisoning our water. Santos has ignored our opposition to this project and tried to force it on us, but there’s no way we’re going to let this company lay waste to the Pilliga and our communities.”
Mullaley Gas and Pipeline Accord spokesperson and cattle farmer Margaret Fleck said, “The Liverpool Plains food bowl is totally reliant on groundwater - groundwater that will be drained and put at risk of contamination if Santos is allowed to drill for coal seam gas in our district.
“The Hunter Gas Pipeline would cut a path of destruction hundreds of kilometres long through some of the best farming country in the world. We can’t let this happen.”
Lock the Gate Alliance NSW Coordinator Nic Clyde said, “Landholders and the communities that support them have shown powerful opposition to the Hunter Gas Pipeline, yet Santos and the Minns Government still don’t seem to get it.
“As well as threats to culture, farming and water resources, analysis has also revealed more than 1000 hectares of Koala habitat could be impacted by the Hunter Gas Pipeline.
“We’re calling for proactive action by the Minns Government to rule out new gasfields in NSW and ensure these pipelines that would carve up farmland and natural areas are not approved."
ENDS