© irene waters 2014
© irene waters 2014
© irene waters 2014
© irene waters 2014
© irene waters 2014
© irene waters 2014
I live in the country because I don’t like crowds. I avoid cities and when travelling I stay away from the tourist spots; always trying to take photos without people in them. I like to feel as though I was the only person there. I struggled to think of any photos I had which featured crowds and then it came to me. Travelling to Sydney on a bus with a whole heap of other country folk, normally non-radical farmers, who were incited to action when it was decided to put a coal mine in the town’s backyard, taking valuable farming land, affecting our clean water supply and endangering our health.
We protested outside the parliament buildings in the morning and went in to the sitting of the chamber where they were discussing the issue in the afternoon. Here we did become a rabble as we became angry when Fred Nile called us “watermelons”. This was a term I had not heard before meaning green (environmentalist fanatics) on the outside and red (communist) on the inside. He then spoke in favour of opening our national parks to shooters, siding with the Shooters party as they would give him the numbers in the vote to allow mining to occur.
We called “Shame on you Fred Nile” one too many times and were escorted from the chamber. We left the town two years later. Five years on the town is divided between those that believe we need the jobs and the economy the mine will bring and those that can see the bigger picture – health, climate change issues, food production, water quality and scenic loss.
This was one occasion I was proud to be a member of the crowd.
http://sundaystills.wordpress.com/2014/08/03/sunday-stills-the-next-challenge-crowd-work/
Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist) 
Cool!
LikeLike
🙂
LikeLike
Good on you, Irene. Sometimes you just have to take a stand on what you believe, with action, not words!
LikeLike
Totally agree Christine. If people weren’t passionate I hate to think where we’d be today.
LikeLike
Good on you, Irene. We are having a similar argument here with regard to fracking. I’m sitting on the fence with regard to this issue, since there are no reports or studies so far demonstrating harm to individuals or health or the water from this procedure. Others are more than passionately against it. Gene and I also don’t like crowds – have only twice taken a “tour” run by a company, both times because of the dangerous nature of where we were traveling. We like to travel on our own!
LikeLike
I have to admit fracking worries me. We have had acquifers dry up and fish poisoned as a result. In a country where most of our water is in the underground artesian basin I do worry that we may unwittingly create some huge problems for ourselves in the long term.
I like travelling alone as well although as we get older neither of us want the hassle but there have sprung up some very small tour groups. Not yet partaken but I can see some kind of beauty in it as long as you can choose where you want to go.
LikeLike
It would be easier to decide if fracking didn’t have such a huge positive effect on our economy and also offer us a way to be energy independent of the Middle East.
LikeLike
I have a friend who is a mining engineer and he has worked with fracking and its side effects in a project (nothing to do with gas) in Botany Bay. He advises against it as he doesn’t believe it is possible to do it without damage. He actually resigned from the project as the responsibility of getting it right was too great a stress to bear. I understand though re economy and the oil situation. Is the States using much solar power. When I visited Germany it was impressive – entire rooves covered in panels. I think that is the way we should probably be going as I don’t know of any side effects from that at all. (Mind you there probably are because I was an advocate of wind power and there are many against that for various reasons.)
LikeLike
Fred Nile called you a “watermelon” and you’re the ones who were escorted out of the room – for noting his shameful behavior? Wow, that’s justice for you. Good for you for standing up for the future.
LikeLike
Thanks Sharon. What surprised me was the dismay amongst our ranks as they hadn’t realised Rev Nile was such a misdirected fanatic and they had voted for him based on the fact that being a religious man he should also be a good man. They don’t unfortunately always go together.
LikeLike
I dislike and distrust those who identify themselves with a label that they assume should be a positive comment on their character. Only one’s own behavior is reason to judge one’s character. A sugar label can be pasted on any can of arsenic – still arsenic, still bad news.
LikeLike
Agree totally though a little sadly. I think our loss of respect for those we should be looking for guidance such as our political leaders, police, religious leaders etc is leading to a steady destruction of our society as we knew it.
LikeLike
I’ve never heard that insult before – calling someone a watermelon. What an odd expression.
Fracking is also very controversial in Canada too. Unfortunately the oil lobby has the PM firmly entrenched on their side.
LikeLike