Front Line
494 days
Hi all,
So much exciting activity has happened in the last 12 days, I just hope I don’t miss anything out. First of all, we have reason to believe that we are really starting to put the pressure on Whitehaven, as they have started spouting off lies to the paper, indicating that we are an internationally funded camp . The local farmers are one of our greatest resources, assisting by providing food, fuel and informing us as much they can with their extensive knowledge of our natural surroundings. However, if Whitehaven would like us to come clean, and disclose where we get the most funding, it is in fact the local tip.
On the 22nd the camp went out to Narrabri to help with the Coal Seam Gas protest in the Pilliga. Leaving our own battle to assist in another was inspiring to say the least, and proved to be an important reminder that it is not just the Leard State Forest under threat. Watching our own team, as well as the Pilligans, working together and supporting each others causes, was an amazing reminder that we are all here for the same purpose, which overrides segregation, and encourages cooperation.
The rain came and halted work, giving us temporary relief from the constant screams of the machines, and the scattered coal dust filling our lungs. This lead to frantic attempts to dig trenches, and a lot of well deserved playing in the rain .
On the 28th we saw more protesting in Sydney with the Gomaroi people, leading the way for the protection of cultural and heritage laws, that the government are trying to dilute and gradually diminish.
THE BIG NEWS is that the word is getting out about The Leard State Forest. We now have the Wilderness Society getting on board, as well as Greenpeace , 350.org and 9 other environmental groups who will now be backing the forest, the protesters and the community. With all this additional support, and so many positive plans for the future, a new website has now been created to centralize all this information.
Love and Respect
Stand and Protect
SEE YOU ALL HERE VERY SOON !!!
If the three coal mines planned for Leard State Forest go ahead, they will wipe out more than half of the forest.
Find out more, and get involved today.
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The only thing that can stop Leard State Forest becoming a coal mine is YOU. Together we can protect this forest.
Find out more, and get involved today.
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This is Leard State Forest. It is a biodiversity hotspot made up of thousands of hectares of native forest including nationally-listed and critically endangered Box-Gum Woodland.
Whitehaven Coal want to turn it into a massive open-cut coal mine.
Find out more, and get involved today.
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Leard State Forest is home to 396 native species of plants and animals, and includes habitat for 34 threatened species.
Whitehaven and Idemitsu want to turn this forest into a complex of open-cut coal mines.
Find out more, and get involved today.
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This is Leard State Forest. Right now, Whitehaven Coal is preparing to bulldoze these trees and dig a massive open-cut coal mine.
Find out more, and get involved today.
Note: To share this image on social media hover over the arrow icon at the bottom of this post, select where you’d like to share it (eg. Facebook, Twitter), and click. Alternatively, you can right click the image, save it to your computer, and share manually.
Peaceful actions at Leard State Forest
Here are a series of highlights from the peaceful actions taken over the last year and a half by locals, traditional owners, environmentalists and other supporters campaigning to protect Leard State Forest from coal mining… You’ll find captions describing the action above each photograph.
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19 March 2012: Maules Creek residents and their supporters gather for a peaceful picnic protest at the gates of Idemitsu’s Boggabri coal mine in Leard State Forest.
11 April 2012: A woman locks on to a bulldozer on the Idemitsu Boggabri coal mine site, stopping the clearing of Leard State Forest.
3 September 2012: Two activists scaled the coal-crushing plant at Idemitsu’s Boggabri coal mine, suspended 20 metres above the ground with a banner saying ‘Stop the Coal Rush: Protect Health, Water, Climate’. The protest came after the NSW Government approved a fourfold expansion of the Boggabri coal mine and the NSW Planning Department recommended approval for the adjoining Maules Creek Coal Project. Read more about this action.
4 September 2012: An 84-year-old birdwatcher Russ Watts, a Member of the Order of Australia, chained himself to the gates of the haul road leading out of Idemitsu’s Boggabri coal mine, stopping output of coal for almost six hours. Read more about this action.
7 December 2012: A group visited Whitehaven Coal’s office in Boggabri to protest the impact of the Whitehaven Coal train derailment on farmers who use the train line to move their product. Read more about this action.
12 February 2013: An activist is suspended in a tree-sit attached to two excavators and two bulldozers to prevent clearing of the Leard State Forest by Idemitsu for its Boggabri coal mine.
7 March 2013: A group of local residents and their supporters visited the Boggabri Mac Village (miners’ temporary accommodation) to present Federal MP Mark Coulton with a list of mining reform demands as part of Lock the Gate’s national Call to Country campaign.
11 March 2013: A protester on a tree-sit shuts down Whitehaven’s Tarrawonga coal mine for a day. Read more about this action.
30 June 2013: A group from Front Line Action On Coal occupy Idemitsu’s Boggabri Coal mine open-cut pit as part of an international day of action against coal. The group called on the Forestry Corporation of NSW to no longer sign access agreements with coal mining companies on public land and for banks to no longer fund new coal mines. View an album of photos from this action.
8 July 2013: Gomeroi Traditional Owners doing cultural heritage work for Whitehaven Coal walk off the job and are joined by locals and supporters for several days of picketing Whitehaven’s Boggabri office. The protest called for a halt to Whitehaven’s destruction of Indigenous cultural heritage in the Leard State Forest. Read more about this action.
30 September 2013: A group blocked vehicles on Whitehaven’s haul road that carries coal out of the Tarrawonga mine to load onto trains bound for the Port of Newcastle. The action was in protest of Whitehaven’s plans to expand its mine further into surrounding forest and farm land.
30 September 2013: Locals together with their supporters from Front Line Action on Coal visit Whitehaven’s office in Boggabri to demand answers about the impact and timing of the company’s planned Maules Creek Coal Project. Read more about this action.
1 October 2013: All coal trucks in and out of Idemitsu’s Boggabri coal mine are stopped by an action blocking the haul road, in protest over plans to expand the coal mine further into Leard State Forest. Read more about this action here.
12 November 2013: Maules Creek residents and their supporters (and horses!) block attempts by Whitehaven Coal to commence construction on a rail spur for its planned Maules Creek Mine (the rail line will be shared with Idemitsu for its existing Boggabri coal mine – at present coal needs to be trucked to the railway line at Boggabri and Gunnedah). View an album of images from this action.
28 November 2013: A group protest Whitehaven’s destruction of Leard State Forest, gathering on the haul road of its existing Tarrawonga coal mine.
Where is Leard State Forest?
Leard State Forest is a short way off the Kamilaroi Highway between Boggabri and Narrabri, and adjoins the farming community of Maules Creek, in north west NSW.
The forest is an 8000 hectare biodiversity hotspot – home to 396 native plant and animal species. There are plans to clear more than half of the forest to make way for open-cut coal mines.
Leard State Forest is part of the Gomeroi Nation.
[googlemaps https://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=leard+state+forest&aq=&sll=-33.796923,150.922433&sspn=1.332926,2.705383&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Leard+State+Forest&ll=-30.635549,150.433044&spn=1.381519,2.705383&t=m&z=9&output=embed&w=760&h=350]
482 days in the Leard State Forest
Hi all,
It has been a long two weeks with lots going on behind the scenes, and up-ing the action ante last Tuesday 12th, with the action really stopping the traffic horse
Then on Wednesday this hit the Australian dropping Whitehaven Coal’s share price just a bit more. Whitehaven .
pics of the action
GetUp!’s National Day of Climate Action was on Sunday 17th and we joined in by holding a BBQ in Boggabri followed by an action outside Whitehaven’s Tarrawonga main gate. We were joined at Tarrawonga by eco warriors from the Northern Rivers who had travelled down to join the struggles in the Piliga and Leard.
The 19th was one of the biggest days the Leard State Forest has seen with Phil Laird from the MCCC putting out a call to others who want to help with the fight to join us. On the same day the MCCC and Lock the Gate referred Whitehaven Coal to ASIC for misleading the share market about their offsets. Making false and misleading statements to affect the share price is the same thing ASIC are going after Jonathan for. It will be interesting to see if ASIC actually goes after a corporation rather than going after individuals. Both NBN and Prime came out to camp to interview Phil, Muz and others about the new developments. Phill Leard Whitehaven
action pics
So as you can see we are very busy in the camp. Even though the Maules Creek project has not started clearing the forest, work has begun on the rail loop which will connect Whitehaven and Idemitsu to the main railway. The clearing of the forest may not happen until after the court has made their decision!! The decision may be issued any day now so GET your bags packed folks and make plans to be in the Leard State Forest very soon. We will be issuing a red alert when Whitehaven starts moving in on the forest but there is a lot of work and planning to be done before that. If you can make it up to camp before we issue the red alert we strongly urge you to do so. Best we be on the offensive rather than the defensive!
Stand And Protect
Love and Respect
muzz
DAY 465 Leard State Forest
hi all,
Still no work started for Whitehaven Coal in the Leard State Forest so far , this may change by next week with the rail line due to start. Boggabri coal is still going for it with an unnatural blast on Saturday with an yellow/ orange smoke from the blast, this happens when the ground is wet or damp, there has been on rain here for some time, may be they got the aquifer or a spring !!!!!!
It has been a big few days in Sydney town with Johnathan in the supreme court , and the Descendants of the Kamilaroi Nation held a cultural ride to Parliament house to protest mining on there land.
Then it was Whitehaven coal’s AGM with about 80 protectors telling the share holders about there very bad investments.
We still need people in camp to help keep things ticking along with keeping watch over the Forest, so if you have spear time please come and spend time in the camp, see you all here soon ……
Stand and Protect
Love and Respect
muzz