Pelican Point campaign continues
By Bronwen Beechey
ADELAIDE — Opponents of the proposed power station at Pelican Point on the Le Fevre Peninsula are continuing their campaign, despite the determination of the state Liberal government to push ahead with construction.
Community Action for Pelican Point (CAPP), a coalition of environmentalists and local residents, has maintained a picket line at the site since April 19, when the British-owned National Power company began construction of an access road. The power station will cause serious pollution in the Port River and Barker Inlet, and open the way for other toxic industries nearby.
CAPP members and supporters have been arrested at the picket for attempting to prevent trucks and equipment entering the site.
Early on the morning of June 4, picketers lined up to prevent contractors from bringing in trucks and equipment. CAPP spokesperson Gwen Moore told Green Left Weekly that 13 carloads of police also turned up, with a trailer of mounted police waiting around the corner. "The police were very aggressive. They told us, 'If you try to block the road, you will be charged. You'll do time for this'", she said.
"We replied that if that means we will get our day in court to explain that what is being done here is illegal, then go ahead. The police then said they were cancelling all transport into the site for the day."
As well as maintaining the picket line, CAPP has been researching the environmental and legal implications of the proposed power station. Issues raised include the effect of thermal effluent discharged into fishing grounds in the Barker Inlet and the lower Port River, a habitat for dolphins and pelicans, and the dangers posed by power lines and transmission towers to migratory birds. CAPP has gained support from the SA Conservation Council and the Marine Conservation Society.
CAPP believes that building the power station at Pelican Point will contravene the federal Fisheries Act and Protected Species Act, as well as the International Treaty on Migratory Birds.
On May 27, state parliament voted to cease work on the site. The motion, moved by Kevin Foley, the Labor MP for Hart, which covers the Pelican Point site, called for parliament's public works committee to examine the project. It was passed with the support of three independent MPs and Liberal backbencher Peter Lewis.
The government argued that the motion was unconstitutional and that work should proceed because the Pelican Point project is privately funded and on land transferred from the crown to the state government.
On the same day, environmental and trade union activist Davie Thomason appeared in court on a charge of "walking without due care" at the Pelican Point picket line. Thomason was arrested on May 20 for trying to stop a truck from entering the site. The hearing will continue on July 22.
CAPP welcomes supporters at the picket line, which is at the corner of Victoria Road and Pelican Point Road, Osborne. For more information, phone Gwen Moore on 0414 710 476.