Cattle producers protest against coal seam gas with cow manure at Lismore
Katters Australia Party presents CSG Moratorium Bills to State and Federal parliament, but the not-so-bright farmers of the Condamine, Toowoomba and Nanango electorates still voted for the LNP
They are beyond help!
By Kim Honan
Updated yesterday at 10:10amFri 13 Mar 2015, 10:10am
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Farmers dump cow manure on the footpath outside the office of Lismore MP Thomas George. (Kim Honan)
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A group of farmers in northern New South Wales have dumped manure outside the office of their local Nationals’ MP.
They wanted to express to the Member for Lismore Thomas George their outrage about the coal seam gas industry.
Iron Pot Creek vegetable and cattle producer Peter Stackhouse was one of the farmers that joined the protest.
“There’s 85 to 98 per cent of people who don’t like coal seam gas or don’t want to be industrialised but the Nationals just plan to roll it out on top of everyone.”
“I’m concerned that the Nationals plan to go full steam ahead and turn the whole place into a gas field,” he said.
“I don’t like that where I am and most of the region don’t like it.
“We’re sick of the total disregard for everyone in the Northern Rivers.”
I strongly feel that the Nationals’ have abandoned the country people. I’m not voting for them anymore.
Anne Thompson, cattle producer, Eltham
Eltham cattle producer Anne Thompson is very familiar with the footpath she is protesting on, every Thursday afternoon she joins a group called ‘Knitting Nannas’ there.
“But today I’m wearing my farming hat, my akubra, because we farmers are strongly protesting with a bag of bullshit actually,” she laughed.
“We’re sick and tired of the bullshit that we’re getting.”
Ms Thompson said that she had voted for the National Party for the last 35 years.
“But now I strongly feel that the Nationals have abandoned the country people. I’m not voting for them anymore,” she said.
“Certainly while they hold this policy of fracking the countryside and forgetting about the food producing areas.”
Bentley cattle farmer Gordon Serone said he does not believe the National Party is doing anything to support rural Australia.
“We really don’t want a gas field in our backyard,” he said.
He said he was concerned about the amount of processed food Australia imported.
“We don’t package beetroot, apricots, pineapple, a whole lot of things that we used to package that are packaged overseas,” he said.
“The berries that come from Chile to China to New Zealand to Australia that brought hepatitis A, why aren’t we producing all those things in Australia?
This whole issue has been a concern with me… Everyone’s yelling in this debate, but no-one has been listening.
Thomas George, State Member for Lismore
“They’re supporting big multi-national companies that just want to exploit the country and pack it up and ship it off to China as coal and iron ore and gas.”
The Member for Lismore Thomas George was not in his office at the time of the protest but gave an interview to local media later in the day where he said he was listening to the community.
“This whole issue has been a concern with me,” he said.
Audio: Member for Lismore Thomas George responds to cow manure protest (ABC Rural)
“I’ve lived here all my life, and if people don’t believe that I’ve had a concern about this issue, (they) have not lived and understood and heard what I’ve been saying, and that is the trouble.
“Everyone’s yelling in this debate, but no-one has been listening.”