It’s sad in this day and age that the people have to stand up and protect the environment simply because the government’s ministers and departments have

neglected to take the facts into consideration as presented to them by numerous independently-qualified people, and instead take the word of a foreign-owned company

The Maules Creek project should never have been approved by minister Tony Burke.

This forest has legislation in place that was supposed to protect it from destruction, even though there was room for forestry and mining lurking somewhere in the fine print. 

There have been numerous changes to legislation all along the way, and they have been changed so that there is no comeback on ministerial decisions and legislation can’t be challenged in court.

Now even the local shire has stepped in to make the protection of the forest more difficult by having a special meeting to remove the Frontline Action On Coal camp.

As law abiding citizens that have always looked up to authority to do the right thing, we have followed the rules and provided evidence to the contrary of what the mining companies have put in front of the minister, but to no avail.

There is no government transparency and we are still waiting for the findings of an independent survey on the “like-for-like”’ off-sets.

Meanwhile there are bulldozers in the forest now! 

I don’t want to see this become a “dirt fight” in the eyes of the public, and those who know the real story behind why we are protecting this last stand of forest know this is the line in the sand.

Money certainly is the root of all evil in this situation, but the real protectors that can see through this and have joined together to help do this for all Australians, non-indigenous and Indigenous, are amazing people from all age groups and all walks of life, not the hippy activists that have been portrayed in the media by the mining companies. 

We will stand and protect.