Unions NSW launched its Pilliga campaign report at NSW Parliament on November 18, with Gomeroi leaders and climate activists.
The report, We Stand with Gomeroi: Trade Unions Oppose the Santos Pilliga Narrabri Gas Project, is a collaborative effort between Unions NSW and the Electrical Trades Union, Australian Services Union, NSW Nurses and Midwives Union (NSWNMA), Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation, Maritime Union of Australia, Independent Education Union (IEU) and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union.
It examines the devastating impact of Santos’ push to drill 850 coal seam gas wells in the Pilliga State Forest on Gomeroi land.
NSWNMA General Secretary Shaye Candish said the union is “deeply opposed” to new fossil fuel projects and stands "shoulder-to-shoulder with the Gomeroi people in their fight against the Narrabri Gas project”.
Gomeroi speaker Suellyn Tighe, who travelled from her home in Coonabarabran for the launch, presented two poems reflecting the cultural and spiritual values that have driven her Elders in protecting Country over thousands of years.
She also outlined how these values underpin the strong Gomeroi opposition to the Santos project.
Raymond “Bubbly” Weatherall recounted how he became involved in the Unions NSW campaign some years ago, meeting with union leaders and members and gaining their commitments to stand with Gomeroi in defence of the Pilliga.
Both Tighe and Bubbly have taken union members on tours of the Pilliga and shared stories of its significance to Gomeroi people. Unionists present said that those tours made a huge difference to their understanding of why the gas project must not go ahead.
Kylie Martinez, a Wiradjuri woman and an IEU member, spoke about the difficulty they face in teaching children about conflicts between First Nations groups and corporations like Santos. She said corporations may write fine things on paper but what they do on Country is create divisions in the community to push their corporate interests.
NSW Greens MPs and independents Roy Butler and Jacqui Scruby attended, along with representatives of Lock the Gate and Knitting Nannas from the Hunter and Sydney.
The next step in the Gomeroi challenge to the Native Title Tribunal’s decision to disregard their land rights and their strong opposition to the Santos project will be a Federal Court appeal hearing in Magan-djin/Brisbane on November 25–26.