The seven-month Pilliga Push campaign was recognised by the Nature Conservation Council for helping to raise awareness and community resistance to coal seam gas (CSG) across Australia.

A professional camp was set up in the forest to launch protests from – it had a full kitchen with a fridge, freezer and stainless steel bench tops, three toilets, hot showers, an office and a lounge room with carpet. 

An alliance of community groups ran the camp, including the Wilderness Society, North West Alliance, People for the Plains, Coonabarabran Residents Against Gas, No CSG Walgett and local indigenous groups.

Dan Lanzini, one of the campaign organisers, said professionals from Sydney and Melbourne were brought to the camp to train people in peaceful direct action, which was targeted at Santos’ Leewood wastewater treatment facility.

“There were more than a 1000 people trained, 45 people arrested and 350 stop work blockades,” Mr Lazini said.

“They were supposed to finish building it in about 10 weeks, we pushed it to about 25 weeks and it cost them a hell of a lot more money.

“In the end, the government changed the laws about mining and gas protesters because we were so successful.” In March, the NSW government increase the fine for anyone caught trespassing on mining sites from $550 to $5500 fine.

The definition of the word “mine” was extended to include CSG sites, so anyone locking themselves to equipment can face a maximum jail sentence of seven years.

“The laws were actually changed on my birthday – I don’t know if that was intentional or not,” Mr Lazini said, laughing.

The camp has since been packed up. “It would be fairly hard to do again with the new laws,” Mr Lazini said.

“The fight is far from over. There are people that live and breath this campaign now and we aren’t going anywhere.”