Content on this page:
The frackers are coming. Introduction
About the film evening on 10 September 2013
Audio recordings of the speakers on 10 September 2013
About the documentary ‘Fractured Country’
Take action! Start here
Say no to fracking: Join the campaign
Videos and websites about fracking
Experts explain the dangers of fracking
And there is more…
“The frackers are coming…” It sounds like a bad joke. But this is dead serious, outrageous, and a direct threat to you and your family.
Fracking is the fossil fuel industry’s desperate and toxic answer to the fact that the world is running out of crude oil. Hydro-fracking is the name for a technology used to extract gas from the ground — a method which is known to contaminate drinking water and wreck people’s health.
In the short term, the ‘frackers’ are a threat to us and our families’ health via our ground water. Numerous films have documented the frightening impacts of unconventional gas mining in the U.S., in Canada, and in Australia. The frackers’ toxic chemicals are finding their way into the meat of the animals we eat and the water we drink.
In the longer term, they are wrecking our environment: our rivers, lakes, wild life, and the climate.
Gina Rinehart is coming
Why you need to know more about this if you live in or near Geelong, is because the frackers – in this case: Lakes Oil, partly owned by Australian mining heiress Gina Rinehart – are coming to the region of Greater Geelong now.
This was why we organised this first video and discussion evening in Geelong – to inform about what is going on and to enable citizens of the region to understand what fracking is about, and why we need to take action against it even before they roll their drilling equipment in.
We showed two short Aussie documentary films, and a six-minute American trailer.
Greg Barber, Greens’ MP at the Victorian State Parliament, and Tim Gooden, Secretary at Trades Hall Geelong, who have both been public opponents of this toxic industry, addressed the audience of around 25 people.
In an inspiring discussion afterwards, we explored concrete ways in which we as a community can approach this challenge. Almost everyone in the room signed up to help start a campaign against fracking in our region, and a date was decided for a next planning meeting.
[Almost the entire recording of Greg Barber’s speech was unfortunately lost because the recorder accidentally was pushed to the floor.]
Tim Gooden talked about the union’s stand in this matter, and how he could see them become part of a protest movement against fracking in the Geelong region.
Excerpt of the discussion at the end of the evening, around 8:45–9:00pm, where the short video ‘Campaign for Local Power’ was screened.
Programme:
Screening of the documentaries
• ‘Gippsland is Precious’ (20 minutes)
• ‘Fractured Country: An Unconventional Invasion’ (38 minutes)
• ‘Campaign for Local Power’
• Address by Greg Barber, Greens’ MP at the Victorian State Parliament, who has been a public opponent of this toxic industry
• Address by Tim Gooden, Secretary at Trades Hall Geelong
• Discussion about ways in which we as a community can approach this challenge
Greg Barber holds the Environment, Finance & Indigenous Affairs Portfolio, which includes Climate change, and Energy & Resources. Read more here: vicmps.greens.org.au/gregbarber/about
Read more about fracking in Geelong here:
www.climatesafety.info/?p=3836#geelong
The film evening took place on Tuesday 10 September 2013 at Beav’s Bar, 77 Little Malop St, Geelong, 7pm–9pm. Entry was free.
The event was organised by Anthony Gleeson and Mik Aidt, two concerned citizens of Geelong, and two parents who are concerned about their children’s and grandchildren’s future.
Strong documentary about ‘fracking’ in Australia
The 38-minute documentary tells the powerful stories of Australians whose lives have been changed forever by the gas mining.
‘Fractured Country: An Unconventional Invasion’ was directed by filmmakers Brendan Shoebridge and David Lowe from the Northern Rivers of New South Wales.
The film is inspiring because it tells the courageous stories of everyday Australians who have decided to take a stand to protect the country they love.
In ‘Fractured Country’, the scale of the threat to Australia from invasive gas mining is clearly exposed – more than 54 percent of the country is at risk from exploration licences and applications.
Nothing is sacred and nowhere is safe from this industry – with fertile farmlands of the Darling Downs, natural icons like the Kimberley, and tourist meccas like the Scenic Rim all in the crosshairs of the gas companies.
The film provides shocking examples of the impacts that gas mining have on water resources, explaining the grave risk they pose to drinking water catchments, farm water supplies and the Great Artesian Basin.
Despite the devastating impacts depicted, the film ends on a high note – telling the stories of communities who have chosen to stand up to the mining giants and won.
On youtube.com the film has been split up in six ‘webisodes’:
‘Fractured Country’ webisode 1
‘Fractured Country’ webisode 2
‘Fractured Country’ webisode 3
‘Fractured Country’ webisode 4 – food
‘Fractured Country’ webisode 5 – natural icons
» For more information, go to lockthegate.org.au/films
Take action! Start here
If you live in a rural area you can:
• Lock your gate
• Show the film ‘Fractured Country’ to your neighbours, friends and family
• Organise a public screening of ‘Fractured Country’
• Form a community action group
• Survey your community using Lock the Gate’s guide
• Learn how to go Gas Field Free
If you live in an urban area you can:
• Show the film ‘Fractured Country’ to your neighbours, friends and family
• Organise a public screening of ‘Fractured Country’
• Form an action group in your suburb
• Put up a sign to support rural communities
• Speak to your local MP
• Donate to the Lock the Gate Alliance
» Download the guide: Stage 1 Guide for mining free communities (PDF)
“The only way to counter money is with people.”
Quote from the film ‘Fractured Country’
Find more information and action-related inspiration at these sites
» lockthegate.org.au — Lock the Gate Alliance is a national grassroots organisation made up of thousands of individuals and over 160 local groups who are concerned about inappropriate mining, unconventional gas, coal seam gas, shale gas, fracking, and fossil fuels in general.
» csgfreenorthernrivers.org — all the tools needed to run a successful campaign.
» dea.org.au — Doctors for the Environment Australia is a voluntary organisation of medical doctors addressing the diseases caused by damage to the earth’s environment.
» caha.org.au — Climate and Health Alliance is an unprecedented collaboration of health workers concerned about the impact of fossil fuels and climate change on our health.
Say no to fracking:
Join the campaign
» [1] Come to our first planning meeting on Tuesday 24 September 2013.
» [2] Sign up to receive updates in your mailbox about the campaign ‘Geelong says no to fracking’:
» [3] Here and now: Join us as a signatory of this letter to help make Geelong region fossil fuel free.
To sign you must go to the petition site where you can sign and add your personal comment: change.org
Please note: It is important that you also contribute with a small text about why you think this is important. Geelong citizen’s personal comments to the Council will most likely have a greater influence on the mayor and councillors than just the number of signatures.
More information about the petition: here
» [4] Here and now: Click ‘LIKE’ on this Facebook-page to keep in touch via Facebook as well.
Videos and websites about fracking
‘Gippsland Is Precious – CSG documentary’. Published on youtube.com on 9 May 2013.
“For over 100 years, Gippsland has been the beef and dairy heartland of Victoria, producing 23% of Australia’s milk as well as some of the best beef in the country. Farming is one of the biggest employers in the region, especially within the food manufacturing industry. Coal Seam Gas (CSG) threatens all of this. ‘Gippsland Is Precious’ explores what is at stake for the region, and what communities and individuals can do when they unite.”
‘Advance Australia – Lock the Gate!’. Published on youtube.com on 12 August 2013.
“The first trailer of two forthcoming films from the Lock the Gate Alliance (Australia), ‘Undermining Australia: Coal vs Communities’ and ‘Fractured Country: an Unconventional Invasion’. These documentaries feature the personal stories of Australians whose lives have been changed forever by coal and gas mining. The films are directed by two Northern Rivers film makers.”
To see the effects fracking has had on Queensland, check out this Four Corners Report:
ABC – 1 April 2013:
Gas Leak!
“The coal seam gas industry promotes itself as a cleaner carbon-fuel alternative; but how do we know this is true? Until now much of the information used to back this claim has come from the industry itself.” By Matthew Carney and Connie Agius
“Let’s say goodbye to oil…”
Produced by the Post Carbon Institute. Published on youtube.com on 28 August 2012.
Experts explain the dangers of fracking
Dr Helen Redmond from Doctors for the Environment talks about the impacts of coal-seam gas water contaminants and the impacts on human health. Published on Vimeo on 4 April 2011.
Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith speaking about toxic risks of CSG at Lismore, explaining why these fracking chemicals are a threat to us all, and how fracking also is an air pollution issue.
Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith is senior advisor to the National Toxics Network and an internationally acclaimed expert on the toxic risks of coal seam gas mining to human and animal health. In this presentation at the Lismore Community Information evening concerning CSG mining in the Northern Rivers, Dr Lloyd-Smith presents a detailed and devastating analysis of the poisonous effects of this destructive industry.
Published on youtube.com 28 April 2012.
And there is more…
Why you should be concerned about ‘fracking’
Fracking is moving in — very possibly to an area near you. People all over the planet are protesting against it. Starting in the US, UK, Australia, Argentina, South Africa, Norway, Romania, and Poland. What all this means is that you need to spend a bit of time to understand what the issue with ‘fracking’ is.
» Continue reading…
(Reuters Sep 18 2013) – Contaminated water spilling from flooded oil and gas drilling sites in Colorado is refocusing attention on the environmental risks surrounding America’s fracking boom:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/18/us-usa-colorado-flooding-fracking-idUSBRE98H15820130918
“Floods that have devastated north-central Colorado, killing eight people and displacing thousands, have also dislodged storage tanks that hold drilling wastewater left over from the production process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.”