Activists and unionists rallied together on the morning of 6th May in support of the Gomeroi people in their Native Title Tribunal case against Santos’s Narrabri Gas Project in front of NSW Parliament House.
The Gomeroi people’s fight against fossil fuel development in the Pilliga forest and Narrabri plains has been an ongoing struggle. Last year the Federal Court delivered a historic ruling that new fossil fuel developments on native title land would have to take into account the effects of climate change.
Companies like Santos are required to negotiate with the Traditional Owners of the land but are not obliged to reach an agreement. Overwhelming, the Native Title Tribunal rules in favour of fossil fuel companies compared to Traditional Owners.
The Tribunal is expected to deliver a decision on 9th May.
Aunty Rhonda Dixon began the rally by delivering a Welcome to Country. She spoke to the environmental destruction she sees in the Sydney basin and affirmed her solidarity with the Gomeroi in their fight to protect their Country. The rally was emceed by Gomeroi man Bubbly who spoke throughout the rally about his deep personal stake in this fight.
Suellyn Tighe, a Gomeroi custodian from Coonabarabran, spoke about the ongoing fight indigenous people have had against the colonisers: “There has not been one day in this colonised country of Australia, since the landing of the First Fleet, where there hasn’t been a tree cut down or someone’s country dug up.”
She reminded us that no matter the political leanings of the Australian government, they have maintained a “tradition of destroying [the] environment and [the] destruction of Aboriginal people’s rights”.
Tighe emphasised the importance of protecting the Pilliga which sits atop the Great Artesian Basin — the largest underground freshwater source that underlies 22 per cent of the continent. She continued, speaking to the “deep sorrow” of the Gomeroi people caused by the gas extracted from their Country contributing to global emissions.
Despite the aforementioned historic ruling that Native Title Tribunals must take into account the effects of climate change when ruling on new fossil fuel developments, Tighe reminded us that the “Native Title and the Federal Court doubled down on the unimportance of cultural connection to place”.
Greens Member of the NSW Legislative Council Sue Higginson spoke to the rally, citing her experience as an environmental lawyer: “in no uncertain terms, that country speaks, that country is screaming for your health, and that country is rejecting Santos’ absurd, despicable, violating plans for that country”.
Independent MP for Pittwater Jacqui Scruby spoke about her local community leading the fight against offshore fossil fuel drilling and affirmed that “climate risk is one of the biggest challenges facing New South Wales”. She notes that NSW passed legislation last year banning new offshore petroleum and mineral exploration, and that it should be no different inland in the Pilliga and Narrabri.
Vanessa Seagrove, Unions NSW Assistant General Secretary and Chair of the Unions NSW Pilliga Campaign Committee, began by saying that “when we started this fight, we didn’t think that we’d get the outcomes that we did”, referring to the Federal Court ruling. Seagrove warned about the intensity of bushfires in the Pilliga forest and asked the audience to “imagine adding to that, 850 gas wells”.
Michael Whaites, Assistant General Secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association, acknowledged and affirmed his solidarity with the struggles of First Nations peoples against the environmental destruction wrought on by colonisation.
He continued, “You can’t make a statement like that without standing by it and joining actions like this today; our words must not be shallow.”
Whaites spoke to the effects of climate change on people’s health, warning everyone of the consequences of inaction: “We see increased respiratory diseases; we see increased cardiovascular diseases; we see increase in mental health diseases”.
Karra Kinchela, a Gomeroi Traditional Custodian, activist, and unionist, held up an artwork by a Gomeroi man from Moree depicting the Great Artesian Basin. She described “all the layers, all the flow, and how we are all connected on top of the Great Artesian Basin” and emphasised to the rally the importance of defending the environment.
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