Save The Kimberley meeting in Sydney "Electric"

The first Save The Kimberley public meeting on the east coast of Australia was attended by around 100 people who filled the room and spilled out into adjoining corridors. People from across the Northern Beaches who have visited or lived in the Kimberley and some who had travelled from as far as Wollongong, 150 kms down the coast, gathered to hear presenters including Lyndon Schneider (Campaign Manager: The Wilderness Society), Martin Pritchard (Executive Director: Environs Kimberley), Peter Tucker (Chair: Save The Kimberley) and Albert Wiggan (Save The Kimberley). A range of takes on the proposal to impose heavy industrialisation and mining on the Kimberley were presented and the meeting was charged with emotion and then enthusiasm that Sydney rise up in large numbers in solidarity with the people of the Kimberley to confront the menace of unwanted mining and industry.

Martin Pritchard, whose list of proposed industries for the region stunned the audience and galvanised them to take action.

The message was simple: There are alternatives to forcing unwanted development on the environment and community of the Kimberley region which will not hamper trade or jobs and will permit nature, culture, tourism and sustainable industry to continue to flourish.

Albert Wiggan speaking to SBS TV prior to the meeting.

SBS interviewed Albert Wiggan “We want to know what kind of outcomes their money is going to offer us in 50 years time, because the country will still carry the scars of development then.”, Peter Tucker “If they ruin the Kimberley I think it will be a national disgrace.” and Martin Pritchard “We’ve seen the mining and industrialisation in the Pilbara . . . and we’ve yet to see any benefits flow to the indigenous communities there.”.

Peter Tucker speaking to SBS prior to the meeting.

A number of proposals for establishing relationships with the Kimberley community and building a massive response in the Sydney region to oppose development in the region are now under consideration.

This entry was written by admin, posted on March 16, 2009 at 8:13 pm, filed under Actions, News, News Archive and tagged conservation, Kimberley. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.

1. EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT!!!

   Comment by MJ on March 16, 2009 at 8:20 pm

2. Let the true facts be known mining companies wether in the Kimberly region or Tasmania or in the coal fields of NSW care only about one item how much money they can get out of Australia before the minerals decline and when it would then be unprofitable to keep mining in certain areas, if the mining companies had any respect of the prestine nature of this continet then they would take a lot more care the way that rip up holes in these senstive areas and also would support the people in local communities the truth is they DO NOT and our stupid politicians in all parts of politics are blinded by the amount of money that is handed over to political parties so as politicians close their eyes mouths and ears to any complaints that arise from mining malpractise the only time politicians take notice when it impedes their ambitions in their political futures. The saviors of the Kimberly regions will have to go outside of Australia the same as protesters when they were trying to stop the Franklin Dam in Tasmania if you want to secure the Kimberly region against mining destruction the Aborignal people will have to have a louder voice then what they have now if they wished to save any part of Australia the mining companies now are that entrenched in this country that it will be an uphill battle to get them to stop if you still wish this to happen then you need to get the worlds attention the way to get this is to make war on the mining companies on a Grand scale to get people to sit up and listen and for politicians to change their views. Remember what they had to do to save Tasmania from the Franklin Dam Project.

   Comment by leslie Staines on March 18, 2009 at 8:46 am

3. Fantastic!!! Great meeting “ELECTRIC”

   Comment by Kat on March 18, 2009 at 2:52 pm

4. A good friend of mine in combating huge powerlines through pristine wilderness, put up some billboards showing what the areas would look like after the powerlines had been in place. With slogans like “Is this what you want in your backyard?” As a result — the wilderness was saved and an alternative solution developed.

   Perhaps a similar apprioach could be used here with the Kimberly. Images of what the destruction will look like up on billboards with the wildlife and marine life trying to live amoungst the destruction.

   Perhaps there is a list of billboards around that have windows of opportunity where they arent being used where you could perhaps use them for next to nothing… or nothing for a good cause…

   — just a thought.. keep up the fight!

   Comment by Jeff Hansen on March 19, 2009 at 9:21 pm

5. @Jeff
   Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll pass that on.

   Comment by Ricki - admin on March 19, 2009 at 9:28 pm

6. Can we have a meeting south in Melbourne so we too can raise our voices to save this amazing land. Julia happy to help organise.

   Comment by Julia on March 20, 2009 at 3:19 pm

7. @Julia
   Thanks for your enthusiasm. I’ll put you in touch with the STK Committee. This Sydney meeting was very opportunistic as most speakers were visiting locally. Future meetings will be more strategically put together. Melbourne’s time will come!

   Comment by Ricki - admin on March 20, 2009 at 3:52 pm

The comments are closed.