Bentley Blockade facing massive police force | Mining Leaks

Bentley Blockade facing massive police force | Mining Leaks
BENTLEY CAMPAIGN DONATION
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http://csgfreenorthernrivers.org/donate-now/
https://rainforestconnections.org/projects/StopBentleyGasExploration

Stop Bentley Gas Exploration Now!

Championed by: Gasfield Free Northern Rivers , Rainforest Information Centre
about the project

Stop Bentley Gas Exploration Now!

Gasfield Free Northern Rivers , Rainforest Information Centre

We are a diverse and concerned community who are standing up against unconventional gasfield exploration in the Northern Rivers.

Metgasco has returned to the Northern Rivers and now plans are underway to drill a 2 kilometre deep well in a tight sands gas deposit. This exploration project is located just 16 kilometres from Lismore, near Bentley.

Of course, not all of us can go out to Bentley for the protest, however we can show our support in other ways, through supporting newspaper and television advertisements, rallies and events in town, posting signs on our properties and at our place of business.

OK so let me make sure this is right for everyone to fully understand the history behind this mining project at Bentley.

A petroleum exploration license PEL 16 covering the Bentley area was originally granted in 1996 and owned by a company called Carlita Holdings Ltd. The director was a man called Peter Gray who has proven links with Eddie Obeid over the Cascade Coal Mine fiasco.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/investors-lost-a-fortune-as-30m-channelled-to-obeid/story-e6frgczx-1226521558532#mm-premium

http://www.afr.com/p/national/cascade_coal_list_of_investors_y7N8nxPVapS18KhFOQgn3O

The Mines Minister at the time was Ian Mcdonald who has been found guilty of serious corruption and also has links to Eddie Obeid.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/ian-macdonald-eddie-obeid-facing-charges-after-being-found-by-icac-to-have-acted-corruptly/story-e6frgczx-1226688614716

The exploration license was then renewed by Chris Hartcher who has been forced to resign and is also facing serious corruption allegations. He also granted Metgasco it’s first production lease, over a 1536 hectare area in the southern part of PEL 16 along with 21 others in Sept 2012.

http://www.theland.com.au/news/agriculture/agribusiness/general-news/csg-given-the-green-light/2623507.aspx?storypage=0

The NSW Police Minister Mike Gallagher has also been forced to resign and is also facing serious corruption and electoral fraud allegations.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/icac-halts-inquiry-to-investigate-former-police-minister-mike-gallacher-20140506-zr5p4.html

And yet despite several ongoing ICAC investigations with referrals to the DPP for criminal prosecutions pending the NSW Police and the new Minister for Energy and Resources Anthony Roberts are still proceeding to send up to 1,000 RIOT squad and tactical response police to break a community protest in a community that has overwhelmingly voted against having a CSG industry in their region.

What country are we living in again ?

http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/rumours-rife-anti-csg-protest-camp-will-be-met-wit/2254125/

Re Proctor's whinging dummy spitting -

Anonymous  May 4, 2014 at 6:17 PM

"HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON NORTHERN AUSTRALIA
THE DEVELOPMENT OF NORTHERN AUSTRALIA 
Submission by
Broome Chamber of Commerce & Industry Inc
Contact
Broome Chamber of Commerce


..................Page 4



For example, the following recent events, inter alia, are cited as having had a major impact on the
economy of Broome and the West Kimberley-



 The global financial crisis and the high Australian Dollar have impacted the tourism and
hospitality industries with substantially decreased air traffic and accommodation demand although
clearly Broome is not alone here;



 The ad hoc political decision of the former Commonwealth Government to suspend live
cattle exports to Indonesia has forced many pastoralists to the verge of bankruptcy and to 
sell pastoral properties; and



 The decision of WOODSIDE not to proceed with the LNG development at James Price Point
north of Broome. 


That decision has caused many local businesses that had geared up to
supply goods and services to Woodside to contract, close or relocate businesses away from
Broome. It has also had a material impact on the demand for training and apprenticeships. 
Each of these events coupled with the underlying permanent high cost of living in the region has a
flow on effect with the loss of business confidence, skilled workers and negativity towards the future
of the region****."

.....

"Broome is a natural location to host a Logistics Cluster (Hub) that will be a central tenet in driving
future economic growth for the region. 



The three components of a successful Hub are-



A deep water port



•        The Port of Broome is ideally located as it is the only deep water, largely sheltered,
 port in the Kimberley. It can manage the larger vessels that include cruise ships, 
livestock carriers, barging and various oil and gas supply vessels and fuel tankers.

 

•        The availability of land controlled by the Port of Broome has encouraged oil and gas
companies to establish supply bases there and in recent months as the Shell Prelude
 project develops other supply companies are seeking to establish operations in the
 region.

 

      Not withstanding the above, industry players note the need for further wharf
capacity at the Port, that on some estimates could be as high as $425 million, but
the State Government has NOT SHOWN SUPPORT for such development. 
If this is the 
case the Port of Broome could be a candidate for privatisation to facilitate such 
investment.

 International Airport.......................

Road Transport network........................

........




      Going through the entire thing there was nothing about activists - it was all about lack of government support, cost of living, shortage of skilled labour, remoteness etc etc.



So what bought on the dummy spit all of a sudden?

And why activists?


Magistrate questions political agenda in CSG protest charges | Northern Star

Magistrate questions political agenda in CSG protest charges | Northern Star

Why else would police risk cost orders against them, drive a prosecutor up from Sydney to run the matters, arrange police witnesses to travel from Sydney, all for an innocuous minor traffic matter. It is in that context that the realistic suspicion of political interference arises

Sounds so familiar, we have our own set of vexatious politically motivated police here in WA. Came once and traumatised our whole community and what was really funny they thought they could come back a year later and do the same to us. We did'nt turn up and waited for them to return to Perth, than we had lots of fun stopping all kinds of progress, from communication towers, work sites, on the roads and at their places of accommodation and offices. So great to see a Magistrate who is just,  who will not be brought and can clearly see the very scary militarisation of our public police force into corporate mercenaries. It is happening to so many Australian communities across this nation. People who are standing up for their community, country and culture are now starting to understand who really operates this country who is really driving the agenda. The corporations are and if you do not like what they are doing or you object then expect a visit from the state controlled lackeys of the cop orates.

The day the climate movement shifted gear in Australia | CounterActCounterAct

The day the climate movement shifted gear in Australia | CounterActCounterAct



It didn’t really rate much of a mention. A small local piece on the regional New South Wales news a couple of days ago, about the biggest day in court Narrabri had ever seen. 83 people were arrested in a single day on the 31^st March in a significant action that involved the occupation of Whitehaven’s proposed mine expansion. In court on the 29^th April, Over 100 people who had put their bodies on the line in recent months to stop destructive fossil fuel industries operating in the Leard and Pilliga forests were heard in court. Around 60 people received $300 fines for minor trespass charges. Some people are contesting charges. I am one of them.

I was proud to stand that day with doctors and teachers, with retirees and students. I was proud to stand with Bill Ryan, 92 year old Kokoda veteran. I was proud to share a paddy wagon with Ros Druce, local farmer who has bravely taken the step of being the first Maules Creek resident to be arrested defending her land. I was proud to stand with Marion Gevers, mother of Jonathan Moylan who decided it was time to stand up to this industry too, and support her son and the campaign. I was proud to stand with the young university students from Canberra who took a big leap out of their comfort zone by participating in this action.

Whilst there have been mass arrest actions in Australia before we are seeing a paradigm shift. By my estimate, well over half of the people arrested on March 31^st were first timers. It was the first time a local farmer, Ros Druce, had been arrested. We had elders like Bill Ryan. We had doctors, nurses and teachers. We had people who were hoping not to get arrested but knew the risks. We stopped work for a day on a massive construction site despite significant police and security resources being deployed against us. And we did it peacefully and with dignity. People involved now have a powerful story to share with friends and family who will very likely support their brave actions. Without mainstream media giving this significant groundswell the attention it deserves it is up to us to tell our stories.

The police are playing hard ball now. At the action they arrested the media crew, our police liaison contact and went in early to grab people they knew could be good spokespeople, or support others in the action.

The environmental movement is kicking off down under | Red Pepper

The environmental movement is kicking off down under | Red Pepper



On 31 March more than 2,000 people responded to a call to ‘go back to the roots of democracy’ and take direct action to protect their land, water and future from a corrupt government and a reckless company. Last year, people from the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales celebrated a win over Metgasco, when the drilling company withdrew its plans to start fracking in the area. Metgasco came back – but after declaring their region ‘CSG (Coal Seam Gas) Free’, the people were ready this time. With a protectors’ camp now set up and hundreds based there permanently, roads blocked with a tripod and people taking shifts chaining themselves to concrete barrels, the expected drilling machinery still hasn’t shown up. 

Woodside, Barnett agree on Browse base

Thursday, 1 May 2014

Noel Dyson

http://www.energynewspremium.net/storyview.asp?storyid=801796587&sectionsource=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ENP+01052014&utm_content=ENP+01052014+CID%5F45aa9724d3179701ae7ca127881a85e9&utm_source=Campaign+Monitor&utm_term=Woodside+Barnett+agree+on+Browse+base

A SUPPLY base being established to support the floating LNG processing of Browse Basin gas looks more likely, with Woodside managing director and CEO Peter Coleman saying he supports it.

Putting a supply base in Western Australia was one of the conditions Premier Colin Barnett put on the state renewing the portion of the retention leases covering those gas fields that are within WA waters.

The rest of the retention leases are in Commonwealth waters.

Barnett sensationally told the recent Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association conference in Perth that if the Browse joint venturers wanted the retention leases renewed they had to commit to a supply base in WA and a domestic gas allocation.

Speaking after Woodside’s annual general meeting yesterday Coleman said the discussions the consortium had held with the WA government had been positive.

“We’ve had every indication that we’ll be able to work out all our issues with the state,” he said.

Coleman said Woodside had shared Barnett’s disappointment that an onshore LNG processing plant for Browse had not been feasible.

“We just had longer to get used to it,” he said.

Coleman said he too would like to see both the marine and helicopter bases needed to support the FLNG set up in WA.

“The premier has expressed a clear desire for a supply base to be in WA, we would support that,” Coleman said.

“Our first preference is to look for appropriate sites in WA, both for supply vessels and for helicopter operations.

“The Northern Territory is competitive to that but it’s not our first preference.”

However, Coleman is also keen to avoid the sort of difficulties Woodside encountered when it first considered putting an LNG plant on James Price Point in the WA Kimberley to process the Browse gas.

“Wherever we go we want to be welcomed by the community,” he said.

“We need to work with the state on how is the best way to work with communities to make sure the supply base is developed in the right way.”

In other words, if the state wants to keep the base in WA it has to smooth the way.

The NT has proven particularly adept at quieting community concerns when it comes to securing projects. Ichthys is proof of that.

There also seems to be some agreement on a domestic gas allocation, although Coleman said he wanted it to be “a business to business solution”.

'Straight From The Horse's Mouth': Former Oil Exec Says Fracking Not Safe

'Straight From The Horse's Mouth': Former Oil Exec Says Fracking Not Safe



In a message “straight from the horse’s mouth,” a former oil executive on Tuesday urged New York state to pass a ban on the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, saying, ‘it is not safe.’

In this March 25, 2014 photo, a machine mixes sand and water, left, before it is pumped underground during a hydraulic fracturing operation at an Encana Corp. well pad near Mead, Colo. (AP/Brennan Linsley)

“Making fracking safe is simply not possible, not with the current technology, or with the inadequate regulations being proposed,” Louis Allstadt, former executive vice president of Mobil Oil, said during a news conference in Albany called by the anti-fracking group Elected Officials to Protect New York.

Up until his retirement in 2000, Allstadt spent 31 years at Mobil, running its marketing and refining division in Japan and managing Mobil’s worldwide supply, trading and transportation operations. After retiring to Cooperstown, NY, Allstadt said he began studying fracking after friends asked him if he thought it would be safe to have gas wells drilled by nearby Lake Otsego, where Allstadt has a home. Since that time, he’s become a vocal opponent of the shale oil and gas drilling technique.

“Now the industry will tell you that fracking has been around a long time. While that is true, the magnitude of the modern technique is very new,” Allstadt said, adding that a fracked well can require 50 to 100 times the water and chemicals compared to non-fracked wells.

He also noted that methane, up to 30 times more potent of a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, is found to be leaking from fracked wells “at far greater rates than were previously estimated.”

Bentley bockade

▶ Anzac Day at Bentley Blockade 2014 - YouTube



The protectors at Bentley Blockade held a wonderful service to commemorate Anzac Day and highlighted the real values that Australians hold dear and are prepared to fight for. 


If care for your land, water and future, do share widely and GET THEE TO BENTLEY

Produced by GasfieldFree Northern Rivers

www.gasfieldfreenorthernrivers.com

The Battle of Bentley Blockade: The Art of the Political Landscape

The Battle of Bentley Blockade: The Art of the Political Landscape

The anti CSG movement has taken a massive and significant quantum leap in the last few weeks with the emergence of the Bentley blockade. Both the social canvas and the political landscape is being radically re-invented on a scale unseen in the history of the environmental movement in Australia.

What began about a month ago with a small roadside camp of a few tents and tarpaulins and about 15 – 20 organisers and people on site has, in just a short space of time, become the largest, most well organised environmental action ever seen in this country.

The Battle of Bentley Blockade: The Art of the Political Landscape

The Battle of Bentley Blockade: The Art of the Political Landscape

The anti CSG movement has taken a massive and significant quantum leap in the last few weeks with the emergence of the Bentley blockade. Both the social canvas and the political landscape is being radically re-invented on a scale unseen in the history of the environmental movement in Australia.

What began about a month ago with a small roadside camp of a few tents and tarpaulins and about 15 – 20 organisers and people on site has, in just a short space of time, become the largest, most well organised environmental action ever seen in this country.

A rational fear: Red tape industry suffers after Abbott announces cuts – videos | World news | theguardian.com

A rational fear: Red tape industry suffers after Abbott announces cuts – videos | World news | theguardian.com



There have been unforeseen consequences following the Abbott government's announcement to cut back on red tape: not least in the red tape industry itself. The team from comedy troupe A Rational Fear dive head first into the issues that matter most to Australia - from a satirical point of view. Will the federal government see the error of its ways?

Buru Bullshit continues

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Question on notice
Thursday, 20 February 2014
760. Hon Robin Chapple to the Minister for Agriculture and Food representing the Minister for Mines and Petroleum.
With regard to the Buru Energy Limited wells at Yulleroo 3 and 4 and with reference to photographs of these wells, being IMG_0797.JPG, IMG_0794.JPG, IMG_0823.JPG and IMG_0827.JPG ofYulleroo 3 and IMG_0814.JPG, IMG_0809.JPG, IMG_0804.JPG, IMG_0805.JPG and IMG_0808.JPG ofYulleroo 4 that were taken on 12/02/2014, which are located at http://www.robinchapple.com/gdata. 

I ask:
(a) at Yulleroo 4, why is there a difference in water height between the water levels in the two dams;
(b) at Yulleroo 4, what is ,the material floating on the surface of the water in IMG_0804.JPG and IMG_0805.JPG;
(c) at Yulleroo 4 in IMG_0804.JPG and IMG_0805.JPG there is evidence of water having escaped from the lined dam, as shown by the riling on the flank of the pond that is closest to the camera. Is this permissible:
(i) if yes to (c), why;
(ii) if yes to (c), what processes are available to ensure that dams used to contain chemical fluids used in the process of fracking will not be similarly dispersed into the environment in times of seasonal flooding;

(iii) if no to (c), what action will the Minister take;
(iv) if no to (c), was the department advised of this event and when; and
(v) if no to (c)(iv), why not;
(d) what were the contents ofthe dams at the Yulleroo 4 site;

(e) were the contents of the large dam depicted in IMG_0809.JPG and IMG_1808.JPG drained, siphoned or pumped out via the pipe that is seen leading to a large body of water outside the boundary of the pad in the top right hand comer of the photos:
(i) if yes to (e), is this activity permitted and on what grounds;
(ii) if yes to (e), was the department advised ofthis activity;
(iii) if yes to (e)(i), what processes are available to ensure that dams used to contain chemical fluids associated with the process of fracking will not be similarly dispersed into the environment in times of seasonal flooding; and
(iv) ifno to (e)(i), what action will the Minister take;
(f) At Yulleroo 4 in photos IMG_0809.JPG and IMG_0808.JPG there is evidence of the contents of this lined dam having overtopped to the left-hand bottom comer of the pictures. Is this permissible:

.
(i) if yes to (f) why; and
(ii) ifno to (f) what action will the Minister take;
(g) at Yulleroo 3, why is there a difference in the water height between the water
levels in the three dams;
(h) at Yulleroo 3, what is the purpose of the pipe that is submerged and leading from the dam to a large body of water at the other end of the pipe shown in IMG_0827.JPG; and
(i) ifthe purpose of this pipe was to drain the three dams shown in IMG_0827.JPG, is this activity permitted:
(i) if yes to (i), was the department advised of the activity;
(ii) if yes to (i), on what grounds is the draining of these dams permitted; and (iii) if no to (i), what action will the Minister take?
Answer
The Department of Mines and Petroleum advises: (a)
The difference in water height in the two ponds relates to the time the fluids have had to evaporate and the evaporation rate based on the surface area and design of the ponds.
(b) The material is drill cuttings and cement. (c) No

1. (i)  Not applicable
   
2. (ii)  Not applicable
   
3. (iii)  Bum made modifications to ensure that there will be no further overflow from the retention pond and have been conducting weekly inspections of the site since May 2013.
   
4. (iv)  Yes, in April 2013.
   
5. (v)  Not applicable
   

(d) One pond contains drill cuttings, drill fluid, cement and collected rain water. The fluids in this pond were being left to evaporate in the dry season. The other pond was used to hold bore water for drilling operations however now contains collected rainwater.
(e) Yes

1. (i)  Yes. Bum's approved Environment Plan allowed for the discharge of this water to the well site firebreak providing the water was tested for constituents of potential concern and determined to pose no risk to the environment.
   
2. (ii)  Yes
   
3. (iii)  Bum are required to maintain sufficient freeboard in all retention ponds holding flowback water and have a contingency plan in place should there be potential for the maximum capacity of ponds to be exceeded.
   
4. (iv)  Not applicable
   

(f) No. All retention ponds, including ponds containing only rainwater, should be maintained to ensure there are no uncontrolled discharges.

1. (i)  Not applicable
   
2. (ii)  The overflow was caused by a storm event. Buru was advised that there should be no overflow of retention ponds at their well sites at any time and have made modifications to ensure that there will be no further overflow from the retention ponds.
   

(g) At Yulleroo 3 there is one retention pond containing drill fluids and drill cuttings, the other ponds contain collected rainwater. The difference in water height in the ponds relates to the time the fluids have had to evaporate and the evaporation rate based on the surface area and design of the ponds.
(h) To drain excess water in the water retention pond. (i) Yes

(i) (ii)
(iii)

Yes
Buru's approved Environment Plan allowed for the discharge of water to the well site firebreak providing the water was tes~ed for constituents of potential concern and determined to pose no risk to the environment.
Not applicable 

Maja

No need to say anything, its all been said below. We are just catching our tears, trying to find our feet and stop pitching ourselves. All who loved this man have  been rocked with this great loss to the very core of our beings. But we will never give up our dreaming in our protection of Country. We will continue the vision and than we will walk it together, again.

21st Century Maja (Law Man)

Photos: Damien Kelly reproduced with the permission of the Roe Family

24 April 1966 – 26 February 2014 

When a father dies, a great symbolic mountain falls into the sea. Bearings are gone. Life can never be the same. When a son dies there is inconsolable grief. Yet when the mountain is gone an awareness grows of its strength and majesty. Adjustments must be made. New challenges emerge. Family, sons and daughters grow to new heights. Feelings of loss give way to feelings of what has been achieved and what must be done now. Fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, grandmothers and grandfathers of the future are born. The cycle continues.

In all of this, traditional law does not change. The land is the parliament. The spirit beings of Bugarregarre created all life. They made the law in which all things live in harmony. This law encoded in the Song Cycle was passed down unbroken since creation. It is the Law-keepers, Law- people, and Custodian's job to keep passing Bugarregarre ceremonies and stories from one generation to the next.
In the period since the colonization and Federation of Australia it has been the greatest of challenges to uphold traditional law and to ensure the newcomers to this land understood its significance. In a

thousand generations there was never such challenges. Through the greatest tribulations, traditional people have succeeded in imparting the majesty of the Australian environment into the unconscious of all Australian people. Great warriors and statesmen and women Peumulwuy, Windrayne, Bennelong, Truganini, Yagan, Jandamurra, Kangushot, Wonggu, Arimi, Broger, Broughton, Mr. Tigan, and countless others who we are only now discovering, fought for their law, their land to be understood and respected. Only in 2014 is the special detail and quality of traditional law being understood. Far from being archaic or lost, the law, the song lines are a dynamic salvation – a cause of hope for the new millennium.

In the precious coastline around Broome in the North West of Australia we owe a great debt to the great mountains of men, we may call in customary and respectful terms, grandfather and grandson. It was the special genius of the old man, grandfather, to record in mainstream terms the significance of the coastline from Minuyarr to Minarriny and to place it into the European consciousness in a way that even scientists from another world could appreciate. It was the courage and strength of grandson to build and grow this knowledge and to stand up to the corruption of morals and law and to mindless greed and to uphold the song lines in the face of a proposed $40 billion industrial development. Few have faced greater challenges of life, intellect and cross-societal justice and won.

Grandson the world knows you through the song and your words “I’m going to fight for my country but they don’t believe me”. “I will win this fight”. These words reverberate through us all now and we all know you. We know you through the eyes and strength of your brothers Phillip and Ronnie who now take on your mantle... We know you through the hearts of so many quiet, hard men of the Kimberley and Broome who became mellow like children when they spoke of you, protected you and stood alongside you. We know you through the women of your family and of all families whose instincts are simple and sure. We know you through the stories of those who opposed you and just made you bigger and stronger. We know you through the sacred mission of your mother. We know you because you were a very big man born to a very big job. We know you because your vision of Bugarregarre was made real to us. We know you because you made us understand that the possessions and money are nothing against the forces of life and love that are visible and accessible on the sacred camp sites of the 85 kilometre Lurrujarri trail. We know you because you showed us how the world would end if Walmadany was disturbed and if the flows of life stopped.
We know you as the grandchild of the sting ray who lies placidly, wisely in the sand, meditating, watching with wisdom but whose barb is deadly and painful. We know you as maja because we know that the truth of the land came to us in whatever language we spoke, whatever religion we followed, whatever political views we expressed. It was undeniable and it was your special gift to us to let us know these things.

Hard men of the lands now weep. But they will not weep long. Loving daughters, mothers, grand- daughters now weep. But they will not weep long. There is much to lament of a life cut too short but soon the pain will turn to energy and your legacy will grow immeasurably. More will hear you. Only two years shy of 50. Yet every year worth ten. We hear your words grandson. They were meant to stand. Your new fathers and grandfathers yet to be born will hear them and take inspiration from them. We too hear what you say. Over the millennia the cycle continued and there was always a contingency plan. The times require innovation and imagination. This is not a time for plodding or rules or regulations. It is a time for swift action, deft movement and disobedient, respectful resistance. Now those who could not see your reason and your purpose see. You taught us these things. We cannot ignore the torturous pain and cost that every Aboriginal family endured. They must be acknowledged, reflected upon, felt, carried, held and sweated out like a fever. Like every great man and woman, like every leader who breaks through, you bore this pain and turned it around. Tough became gentle, bad became good, hopeless became hopeful, weak became strong, pain became feeling, death became life.

Like the discovery of open tuning on a guitar, the melody from Broome is something to savor and love. Behind the closed gate was a hot-house diaspora of knowledge and life that could not possibly be known by the starch white administrators and mainstream bosses. There are precious few places such majic evolves. New Orleans, Harlem, Paris, and in congregations of the dispossessed at odd times and odd places. Little did the stuffy, pith-helmeted veranda-dwelling tea-drinkers know that their fence created an academy of the highest learning, an academy of life and land, a place of romance and wildness, fun and creativity. The Anne St mob, the Guy St mob were living, learning, sharing, understanding, playing together, surviving, thriving, grieving, dreaming, hurting, growing and adapting. In the Native Hospital neighbourhood knowledge grew. In the pearling precincts respect and cooperation blossomed. When you kiss the dirt enough times you get up stronger, harder and with a passion that knows no bounds. None of the small children who grew up here could possibly know that their community was what Australia craved to be: a place of great learning unfettered by racial stupidity. None of these children could know that they would lead the world. In this hot house on Yawuru land the dreams of other nations were nurtured and kept alive and in so doing Yawuru and Kimberley-wide law was protected as well. For here in the frontlines, in the heart of the colonisers hq and out-post, were many camp fires, a sand dune, a sacred keeping place, a great academy of learning for all. When ceremony faltered it was protected here. It found new witnesses, apostles and advocates, peoples who were dispossessed and victimized from shores far across the seas. The purest law of the land survived. Words and books and writing mean nothing. You must work, live, taste, dance, breathe the land and here behind the closed gate all this precious living and communicating took place. Old men and women tutored not in classrooms but in a living oasis where the azure ocean meets the red sands, in the mangroves, on the ocean, in the desert, in the flood plains, in the crocodile patches, swamps and rivers. New merchants and traders lived with the greatest guardians of land and sea. Here so many grandsons were nurtured and you too, maja, emerged. It was here that grandfather evolved his brilliant philosophy: come all, share in the top soil, share our precious places, and we the custodians and keepers of the law below the top soil, we will preserve you and all of the precious gifts of life and earth through our ceremony, our knowledge, our songs, our law. But it was never going to be easy. Lord Vesty, Lord Mc Alpine, Lords of machinery, Lords of money, Lords of the South, each one more troublesome than the last would come. It would take a child of great strength and fortitude to resist and to never compromise on the fundamental, deep law. As one administrative solution rolled out into another even the great law men would become confused. Hold this piece of paper and you will have title to the land. Become like us and you will have rights and privileges. And so the great wild resistance and creative spirits fought back. So arose a young boy whose spirit was so pure and so hard nurtured in the streets of Broome, nurtured on the quests through deserts and along the coastal treks, nurtured by grandfather. You became the greatest man, the greatest of heros, a prince, a knight, a warrior in thongs on the Walmadany sands.

Sweet, loving, care can come as a roughness in a man. To those who dwell on the surface of things, the depths of the ocean are invisible. In your work trousers, with your sweat, your furrowed brow and your tousled hair you were so irregularly fitted to courts and yet you were the greatest counsel, advocate and fighter for justice. You made the learned men work for you because they knew they must. There had to be times like this, times of sacrifice and darkness for the truly ignorant to see. Drip, drip, drip they go. It is enough to drive you insane. You cannot do it this way. You must put your hands up and vote and have your say. You must prove your bloodlines on a piece of paper. You must participate in a great farce. To hell with that! They build tension in your veins and arteries. You just want to retreat into the dimension beyond time and space. It draws you there before your time. So many young ones are lost too early. But your quest above all else was to make this world a place to stay and dwell and to have joy. Your mission was for all of us - a never-ending job. You never retreated. You fought on until your nerve endings were frayed and worn, until your heart pumped for a whole land, a whole country, a whole people.

“These luggers sails are moving too slowly” sang the poet-philosopher-brothers. That moment of impatience to return to the town by the bay, that moment of incredulity as the desert women dived to the bottom of the sea as true and straight as a spear, that first meal of fish soup and rice and chili crab, that time when the land became home, in these times of adoption and mergence, knowledge evolved in the minds of the diaspora. Just as the Macassans and Garray had been adopted in the North East, so too Irish Nuns and Chinese, Malaysian and Japanese sons and daughters were admitted into the families and introduced to the ancient law and lands of the Bugarregarre. This was the genius of grandfather following the lead of Walmadany and the old men and women. It was the lived experience of you, grandson. Woe be to those who held up diagrams, family charts, lines and maps and talked of the purity of skin and blood. Woe be to the petty-minded legal bureaucrats, representatives of real estate agents, who evolved a doctrine of traditional ownership based on a barbaric concept of continuous physical occupation. The eugenic horror that stole children from families had its ongoing effects in the narrow imaginary of judges and legal advocates and native title law and state governments. How can families be counted, cut-out and corralled like cattle without regard to the fundamental law? This was the tyranny of the vote of hands of the chosen few. This was the terrible legacy of Milirripum v Nabalco still yet to be truly understood for its utter injustice and ignorance. Like fences on the landscape built with no knowledge or wisdom it was a nuisance and a torment. This was your fight grandson, and wha how you fought for the spirit and how you mobilized the world to come to understand. This was not something done through words. It was your very being grandson, your presence, your annoyance, your stress, your body and your face that expressed these things. You just had to appear. Thus the grief and depression and weeping of so many even beyond those immediate loved ones, your town, your childhood gang, your country. Your physical presence, your instincts guided by more than just the logic of European courts and politics, is an immeasurable loss. Personal grief wells and grows in a thousand hearts. Now a whole population, a whole movement support the enduring presence of your brothers, mother, wife and daughters and through them the unchanging law of the land. 

The Roe family spirit and strength grows wide, beyond the lands and the seas. Greedy merchants, Rudolf Diesel engine and Whittle- Ohain gas turbine driven capitalists and visitors slip past the law of the land. It is their loss whaterver gold they may possess. They miss the greatest gift. For a new philosophy open to all, tempered by grandfather, advocated by grandson, arises: respect the land and it will respect you. Come with

grace, gentility, respect, humility and quiet to the North West and you will understand what true wealth is. Having won a great battle this is the challenge that you leave us with. Lurrujarri is a model for all of us. It is not a place to cordon off, not a national park, it is a place of spirit, culture, education, knowledge, discipline, intelligence, ceremony, life and family. Learn here and go back home and practice what you have learned; not only in the North West, but across this great land and well beyond it shores. Here at Lurrujarri we may truly ponder the narrow-minded, plundering gallop of industrialization, the clumsy management of land and sea, the boring plain-same-ness of cities, buildings, hotel rooms and resorts, laws made with votes of hands not the collective beats of hearts and so many places without spirit or heart. Our eyes are opened to the beauty of this land, to museums more wonderous than any made by man, to monuments a thousand times older than the ancient pyramids, to the great draw of the moon and the greatest tidal movements on earth, to the primordial patterns of land and sea creatures – these are the greatest classrooms and learning chambers, more precious than any tangible product the human brain can imagine or realize. The challenge of those who have lost these things is to regain them, the challenge for those who still have them is to protect them at all costs. Thank you so much for this awareness grandson.

As we look across the world at this time, the warring tribes of Eastern Europe fight again, the tensions of East Asia and the nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima are ominous, the great flows of people seeking refuge and peace, the creeping industrialization and worrying exploitation of the resources of the world – all these things - implore us to make things right in our own backyard. In 2014 the enduring will and testimony of you, Mr. Roe, maja, grandson is that we must recognize the Aboriginal ontology of land that is there like a shining light in every one of our communities. It can guide us and help us to live wisely and truly. It can help us to face up to the problems of the world. It shows us how we can live in this land with grace, light and dignity. There has been tragedy, injustice, exploitation and cruelty across all of the lands of this great southern continent. The sorrys and band- aids are not enough. There must be a determined effort to make things right as best as can be, not at a minimum, not in keeping with ignorance or what is politically possible, but as best as can be. Grandson you have been so humble and honest you implore us to make this effort. None of us mainstream Australians can know the torment of the wise Aboriginal men and women across the wide Kimberley and beyond. All faced the greatest tribulations, sadness, all faced pillage, disease, death and mercenary assault. All had to try to apply ancient concepts and ideas as miners, machines, towns, police, administrators and courts pressed. There were very few points of convergence. Our culture exploited the land and left little in return. The job of dealing with us new comers was, with few exceptions, thankless, hopeless and absurd. That is why your victory, grandson and grandfather, is so profound. This is why your heroic legacy can only grow and become stronger. It is like an unstoppable force blowing through time to finally touch us and make us understand. There is still much to think about and question. This is understandable. For this was a time of innovation and majic. For some who knew Ghandi and Mandela as mortal men, their achievements were impossible to comprehend. It is perhaps only from a far that your great achievement, grandson, can be appreciated. As well as a challenge, you leave us with an obligation. For it shouldn’t have been so hard. It should not have been so solitary. It should not have been so lonely. The ceremonial exchanges and points of contact have been so badly disrupted. In a wise country that did truly recognize the authority and knowledge of so-called “traditional owners”, great resources would be placed in the hands of the maja, to make things right. The term traditional owner betrays our own ignorance. Elders who master and learn the ceremonies and songs and live what they mean are truly men and women of high degree. They are spiritual leaders and guides, they are statesmen and women, they are the keepers of law and order, they are protectors of land and the purveyors of peace. It falls to all of us, who have made our livings and have settled our families and our children on these great lands, in the spirit of Wirnin, to make resources available to protect and revive the ancient rights of the people of the lands. If governments will not do it, then the responsibility falls to us as individuals and citizens. This is our responsibility, our debt which must be paid. We will know things have been made right when there are no more early deaths, no more stress to the bone and no more unnecessary suffering in the hearts of old men and women, no more ignorance about the laws and ceremonies which hold everything and everyone together. Without the ceremonies and the discipline of managing and learning about the land, without lives devoted to learning the song cycles, we are all lost and lose so much. In 2014 maja’s tribulations implore us to establish a national endowment across this country that allows learned traditional elders, men and women, to pass on their law, conduct ceremonies and to teach the young as a learned profession. Secret law, public law, outside law, inside law – whatever it may be within the 300 Indigenous communities in Australia – we all need to understand that its practice is as vital to our future as any learned or political practice that takes place in our parliaments, universities, schools or market places.

Sweet, loving, caring Mr. Roe you now return to the ancestors to guard over the sacred lands. The power of the place is enhanced now. You will protect us with a power beyond life. You have built an awareness that now extends across the Australian nation and the world about your sacred protectorate. You have built a great army of supporters that will never subside. The spirits and the feeling of place are so strong. This is your immeasurable gift.

Sweet, loving, caring, gentle Mr. Roe you hover over us watching this place. Wuyunungu swim and dance at Minuyarr, Ngunungurrukun. Wirrkinymiria, Nuwirrar, Kardilkan, Walmadany. They come to guide you on your journey ensuring a safe passage. It is a joyous and lovely journey. You have endured the greatest tribulations and triumphed. You have planted the legacy, as grandfather and the old people intended, in the hearts of all peoples of the world. You have ensured that the Goolarabooloo asnd Jabirr Jabirr people of the land will prosper and live well on their country. In so doing you have preserved the world for all. Mission impossible, at least in the eyes of the mainstream, has been achieved. You grandson give succour to all the peoples of Australia who have seemingly lost their land, languages and culture. They have not. The land awaits them and talks to those who want to hear. The law of the land cannot be replaced. Knowledge will flow again. It is waiting to give up its secrets. Even land which is raped and scoured and scraped into giant trains will never lose its law. It is etched in the steel and in the machines. In the humming streets of the giant mega-pols, where the sun does not shine, where the stars never appear, where there are no clouds and the sky is grey, the land still sings. It cries: wealth is the natural land, wealth is the sea, wealth is the sooty oyster catcher and the blue-bone, wealth is the great earthly flow of tides and currents. Do not take us on your kamikaze ride! Do not take us into your chemical soup! Do not try to tell us that working in a box all day is life! Do not make poison taste sweet! The industry, the wealth of the future will come from true wealth embodied in the law of the land. Let us build upon your vision. Let us cherish and protect your daughters, like the sacred sisters of the north east. With them let us build a new future for Broome in which the diaspora comes together around the law that never changes. So many now have come to your lands and been touched by its beauty. Their eyes have been opened not only to the land of the north-west but to their own homelands. Grandfather and grandson, you have opened the world’s eyes. The world will come to see the millennial wisdom of time and land on the coast of the sun. You will be there to oversee these things. You have built this movement of people across all cultures. It will never go away.

So let us come in great armies of good-will to the Lurrujarri trail. Let us come as a great army to meditate there and to celebrate the Goolarabooloo and Jabirr Jabirr. Let us be generous and forgive those who lost their way. Let us come with intentions of peace and good will. Let us close our eyes and contemplate the great ships that carry earth from one place to another. Let us meditate upon the temporal quality of miners and machines. Let us never allow traffic lights in Broome and truly understand what that means. Let us make Lurrujarri a symbol of peace and tranquility for the entire North West. They call it a wilderness but of course it’s a cultural mecca for the world. Let us get into our psyche the horror of those who would explode harbours and mountains as if they were toys. Let us overcome the narrowness of geologists and anthropologists and writers who would box everything into cartons for supermarket shelves. Let us think on the emptiness of schools and universities and training colleges against the classroom of land, culture, animals and sea. Let us do the infiltrating now. Let us seduce the engineers and chemists and architects. Let us teach them how much they don’t know. Let us learn about true wealth and power. Let us just walk along the shore line. Let the children play and explore. Let us make the pilgrimage to Lurrujarri - something that all parents revere, all children crave. Let us model Lurrujarri – a journey of learning that never ends. Let us renounce the motel and hotel rooms that all look the same and the holidays which leave us more weary than working. No parks, no gardens, just wild things living according to law. Let us use the stupidity, futility and arrogance of yet another cheap fuel, gas, to help us learn what is true and right in the new millennia. Let the custodians think well on these matters. Let us do what maja did. Let us do the impossible. Let us turn the tide.

Sweet, loving, caring Mr. Roe, maja, old, young man, there can be no greater triumph than yours. There can be no greater victory. Small tiny minds subside and give way to your majesty. You have eclipsed the fame of all those who were famous around you because of your simplicity, humility and passion. You have walked beyond the seeming wise men. You have taught those who would compromise, when to be true to their land and themselves. Return to mother earth to be devoured by the microbes and life forces. Merge with the spirit of the land. Guard us well and rest now! Your triumph is a universal triumph. It reverberates through time and space like a never ending comet. Songs will be written, stories will be told, you will fly on eternally.