Poowong says no to coal and gas
Chloe Aldenhoven
Its 11am, quiet and searing hot at the Poowong footy oval. But soon the cars start rolling in, and it feels like a stop-motion animation as the empty footy ground is suddenly filled with cars and their occupants rush to the shade of the clubhouses. A great racket rises over the hill, it sounds like the plane is early, but in fact it's a group of Harley-Davidson riders heading down to take part in the 50-metre human sign that is about to officially declare a Poowong Coal Mine and Gasfield Free Community.
Soon the call is made that the plane will be here, and the 450-strong crowd brace themselves for the heat and head over to the marked-out letters using their yellow triangle signs − the unmistakable calling-card of the 'Lock the Gate' movement − as sunshades. A cheer erupts as the little Cesnar warplane flies over the crowd taking photos and video of the community spelling out 'WE R CSG FREE'.
It has only taken Poowong four months to get this far. After finding out about the coal and Coal Seam Gas (CSG) licenses that covered much of Poowong, a small group of community members approached their local landcare group. With their help, they then decided to hold an information night at the town hall to draw the community's attention to the encroaching exploration licenses, and the grave risk they were posing to the local community, rivers, ground water and the local dairy industry.
The CSG information evening attracted over a hundred people, farmers, business-owners, tree-changers and environmentalists, many of whom had heard of CSG and 'fracking' but had no idea of the immediate threat to Poowong and the rest of Gippsland.
Calling themselves 'CSG-Free Poowong', the newly formed group proceeded to survey every landholder in the Poowong area with the simple question: 'Do you want to declare Poowong Coal and Coal Seam Gas Free? Yes, no, or unsure?'.
After three months of surveying, and after reaching over 550 of the 600 landholders at Poowong, the results were collated. An overwhelming 95% of Poowong agreed − they want to declare Poowong coalmine and gasfield free.
The Poowong declaration is a very special moment in the increasingly inspirational story of resistance to unconventional gas in Australia. Drilling hasn't begun yet in Victoria, putting it in the privileged position of being able to stop the industry before it gets off the ground.
By being the first community in Victoria to make the declaration, the residents of Poowong have used a technique that has been spreading like wildfire across New South Wales, and is now set to do the same over Gippsland. The survey technique is much more than a petition. By declaring themselves 'Coal and Coal Seam Gas Free', communities are declaring that they intend to defend themselves against an industry that threatens to poison their water, air, land, animals and people.
This declaration has already been put in to effect all over the country, particularly now as communities in northern New South Wales have set up months-long blockades, refusing to allow mining company trucks, machinery and gas drills on to properties.
As well as fighting for the health of rural land and communities, Quit Coal also see the fight against unconventional gas in Gippsland as an essential part of the fight for a safe climate. Industry would like us to believe that gas is somehow cleaner and less greenhouse gas-intensive than coal. However, when you take in to account the vast amounts of methane that often seeps out of unconventional gas wells and the emissions created by the transport intense mining process, the greenhouse gas footprint could be the same, if not worse, than coal-fired power.
Quit Coal is now working to support communities in Mirboo North, Toora, Foster, Korumburra, Yarragon and the Sale region to march down the same path to declare their towns coal and CSG free. The Victorian arm of the increasingly effective and inspirational Australian anti-CSG movement has begun.
Chloe Aldenhoven is a Coal and Gas Campaigner with Quit Coal.