Australians have a grand tradition in this regard – maybe you’ve even been part of it?
Maybe you marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, under the red, yellow and black banner, for Aboriginal reconciliation; maybe you took to the streets in the 1960s as part of the Moratorium against the Vietnam War.
Maybe you pushed a pram along the peaceful streets of Melbourne, as part of the Palm Sunday rallies; maybe you stood your (muddy) ground at the Franklin Dam blockade.
Maybe, in the 1970s, you even burnt your bra.
These were big moments, in Australia’s democratic history.
There’s another big protest underway as we speak. It’s not as visible as those listed above, mainly because it’s not taking place at any one site, in any of the big cities. It’s out in the forests, and it’s out on the land.
It’s farmer versus miner, and the issue isn’t all that sexy (although it does sound kind of sexy.) It’s fracking, or mining, for coal seam gas.
In a special pictorial feature this month, The Weekly ventures out, across our grand landscape, to meet the people fighting the development of the underground gas industry. The shots, by award-winning photographer Dean Sewell, are stunning.
It’s a vexed issue – we all need to boil the kettle.
