Protecting our Foodbowl, water and tourism from mining – Rally 2nd August 2014
Meet 9:45am at Parliament House and then 10am march to Victoria Square.
South Australia has only 4.6% agricultural land outside of pastoral areas. Our farming production areas are being invaded by shale gas exploration in the South East of SA, mineral exploration and proposed mining for iron ore, copper and other minerals on Eyre Peninsula and Yorke Peninsula. Plus oil and gas exploration licences are off shore near Kangaroo Island, only around 10 km off our SA coastline.
These exploration and proposed projects are a major threat to our groundwater aquifers, surface water, soil and air. We want to maintain our clean, green food bowl, water and tourism which should be held in trust for generations to come. Currently, land owners in South Australia have virtually NO rights to say NO to mining and petroleum exploration on their properties, even if they don’t want it. This is unfair! We want the laws changed to protect our food bowl.
On Saturday, 2nd August, a rally and march will be held in Adelaide to help support and protect our agricultural, viticultural and ocean communities. We strongly urge everyone in rural areas as well as city areas to come and join us.
9.45 a.m. we will be meeting on the steps of Parliament House. Some short speeches will commence at 10 a.m. followed by a march to Victoria Square. Some short speeches will take place also at Victoria Square. People are encouraged to stay for a picnic lunch or purchase food from nearby.
Please Note: Adelaide City Council CAN NOT park farm vehicles over 8 tonnes. Please bring placards instead.
Find out more about the Rally by clicking here to go to facebook
Contact Anne Daw for more information annedaw@bigpond.com
Our Future – Our Health – Our Businesses are at Stake! Please forward this to everyone you know in SA. to businesses, service clubs and sporting groups; share it on Facebook.
Brad & I are farmers and business owners in the South East of SA and we are greatly concerned about the threat of methane gas exploration and open-cut coal & mineral mining on sustainable agricultural, grazing and cropping land in the Limestone Coast. These exploration and proposed projects are a major threat to our groundwater aquifers, surface water, marine environment, health, soil and air quality.
I have personally spoken to people in Australia and overseas who have experienced contamination and depletion of their groundwater and the pollution of their air and soil from conventional/unconventional gas mining. There is growing evidence of people getting sick, properties no longer saleable and stock dying. Court actions are mounting. The long-term mining effects are simply not worth the risk for the short-term gains of royalties and jobs, which are often Fly In and Fly Out.
Our clean water is used to irrigate the very food that people across Australia (as well overseas) eat and in the case of wine – drink. It is the same water that many cities/towns rely on for their towns supply. Many Limestone Coast people surveyed believe our water and rural farmland is precious and scarce and needs to be kept “Clean and Green”, not only for our food, but also for our State’s long-term economy and future generations rather than industrialised gas & mining projects.
We need your help – now to get the message to the politicians who represent us that landowners/communities must have the right to say no to invasive mining & petroleum projects. Please, make the effort to bring your family and friends to make your voice heard by attending the state rally at Adelaide Parliament House on Saturday 2nd August. The decision not to make the effort may mean the result in living in a mine or gasfield area and losing our sustainable agriculture, cropping and grazing land, as we know it today, forever. See information about the rally. Anyone requiring transport to Adelaide let me know.
Please let me know if you or others are able to attend this critical event as together we can all make a difference to support & protect our agricultural & tourism industries.
Regards Sue Westgarth & Brad Mann