Yesterday, Extinction Rebellion (XR) held a 'lock-on’ action outside State Parliament to bring attention to the close ties of the NSW government with gas giant, Santos.
Macquarie Street was blocked off for around 20 minutes, as a makeshift bridal bed was suspended outside the gates of Parliament House. Two people - one dressed as the NSW Government, the other as the gas industry - played out making love atop of the bed, and threw fake dollar bills into the air before police and riot squad arrived.
Santos has recently been given the green light to build a gas seam project in the Pilliga forest on Gomeroi country in north-western NSW. The Berejiklian government backed what is known as the Narrabri Gas Project, which was given formal approval by its Independent Planning Commission late last month. More than 850 gas wells are due to be drilled in the Pilliga.
The XR action insisted that the NSW government was ‘in bed’ with fossil fuel interests. The Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, is under pressure for her relationship with former MP and lover, Daryl Maguire. Maguire is currently before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), which is hearing evidence in relation to dodgy dealings with developers and kickbacks from a range of financial and other business interests.
The Narrabri Gas Project has been described as “an environmental disaster waiting to happen”, and Gomeroi elder, Maria 'Polly' Cutmore compared it to the colonial massacres of Aboriginal people.
Two people were arrested at yesterday's event.
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