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| Pilliga Bore |
I convinced my sister and two friends to join me at a
protest to be held at the gates of Santos’ Leewood site. The day prior to the
protest I took them on a quick tour of the area, starting on the western side
of the Pilliga Forest to Pilliga, the town. My sister insisted on going into
the town to see if anything remained of the drive-in theatre that we remembered
from our youth. Nothing remained. However, the Pilliga bore was much improved
and appeared to be a popular camping spot even in the heat of February.
Yarrie Lake was the next stop. Camping facilities are
situated all around the perfectly circular lake believed to have been formed by
a meteor. But the lake had no water.
We drove on to Narrabri to meet a friend then headed south along
the Newell Highway. After about 20km we turned left into Plum Road and
immediately turned right onto a track running parallel to the Highway. Not far
from the turnoff we looked for a spill area. It was easily found as through the
trees many logs could be seen lying on the ground. Thick irrigation hoses
snaked around the area. These had been used to water the site to dilute the
salt. A few more trees (in fact iron barks) were starting to grow in some areas
but I had been told on my last visit that some may die when they reached the
salt below. This large area had been devastated by the spill of waste water
from an evaporation pond in 2006 and it was still very evident.
Back on the Newell Highway we turned right into Old Mill
Road. I was surprised that a Santos vehicle was not parked opposite to follow
us as they had on my previous visit. Instead when we reached the Santos
boundary, a vehicle inside the Santos compound drove along the fence parallel
to us. When we arrived at the gate the driver stepped out of his vehicle and made
a show of writing down our number plate. Then he picked up his camera and
filmed us. I had experienced this before and waved, but it was intimidating for
my friends.
Lunch beckoned so we headed south to Pilliga Pottery towards
Coonabarabran. On the right hand side of the road a recent fire had burnt out
the forest. In some areas the trees were starting to shoot again but where the
fire had been very intense black charcoaled sticks remained. It made me wonder
what would happen if a fire of this intensity went through the gas fields. I
was assured by locals that this wouldn’t happen because the forest had been
burn all around them.
Pilliga Pottery is a 10km drive off the Newell Highway but
it is worth it. We had a lovely lunch outside under a huge tree. It was about
40 degrees so it was hard to get cool anywhere. As I had stayed there last
year, I took everyone on a tour of the various accommodation available and they
were very impressed with what had been achieved in this isolated location. The
farmhouse where I had previously stayed is very Germanic and the other buildings
are all unusual constructions using mostly local clay and timber. My sister
checked out the camping area with a view to staying there if the Pilliga Push
camp was too crowded.
We headed back towards Narrabri and the next stop was the camp
on a freehold block of land owned by Pilliga Pottery. I had visited the camp a
couple of weeks earlier and was very impressed with the organisation and the
friendliness and diversity of the people. Strict rules apply - drug and alcohol
abuse is not tolerated. A few homeless people, who have suffered abuse or
trauma, have arrived at the camp. No one is turned away, everyone is given a
chance. They are required to contribute in some way - help in the kitchen, participate
in direct actions or build and maintain the camp. Hence people arriving with no
skills, learn new skills. They interact with people from diverse backgrounds
and some become part of the team, gaining confidence, a sense of belonging and
life skills for the future.
A few weeks ago there were 30-50 people in the camp. This
time the camp extended far into the bush but it was not haphazard as roads had
been created and camping spots allocated. Due to fire danger, campers were
discouraged from cooking. They were encouraged to donate money and eat from the
communal camp kitchen, which had catered for 150 people the previous night.
When I had visited the camp earlier I had promised to help on the night before
the main protest. After a quick look around the camp we chopped vegetables for
the evening’s spaghetti bolognaise, pumpkin soup and vegetarian patties. Lots
of donated food was stacked in order around the kitchen, making it easy to
find. Nothing was wasted. My sister stayed at the camp to help with the
catering for 180 people while we drove back to Narrabri. She said the food was
delicious, the washing up endless and she was very impressed with the
organisation. After dinner she camped at Pilliga Pottery as it was quieter. The
next morning she was up very early, helping with breakfast at the camp before
driving home to work.
Meanwhile my two friends and I had opted for beds in a motel
in Narrabri, closer to the next morning’s protest site. When we checked in, two
police rescue vehicles and two black ‘public order and riot squad’ vehicles
were parked in the car park and the young policemen in civilian clothes were on
their way out. I emailed a photo to the camp and rang my sister to say I would
let her know when they left in the morning.
People for the Plains https://www.facebook.com/peoplefortheplains
Pilliga Push https://www.facebook.com/groups/pilligapush/
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