We received this great update from Get Up this morning and thought that those of you outside Australia might like to be aware of fracking issues on traditional land in Australia.
Also good to see that pressure is being applied at the Macquarie AGM although it appears Macquarie in usual fashion don’t feel the need to pay any attention to the “little” people
On Wednesday, Traditional Owners fronted the Senate Inquiry hearing into the Morrison Government’s disastrous $50 million slush fund for fracking corporations.
The hearing only happened after they travelled thousands of kilometres to Canberra a few weeks ago sharing their powerful stories – and why they’ve been fighting against fracking on country for almost a decade.
At the hearing, staunch Traditional Owner of Gudanji Country, Rikki Dank, spoke truth to power about what’s really happening in the Beetaloo and MacArthur Basins:
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| We have had no consultation whatsoever. We’ve told Empire that they had not had meetings with the rightful Traditional Owners, but that’s as much consultation as we’ve had. We feel violated, and we don’t feel listened to. We will not rest until we see this through. |
More Traditional Owners from across the Northern Territory are gearing up right now for the next hearing on Monday.
As if the Senate hearing wasn’t enough, Traditional Owners and allies also fronted Macquarie Bank at their online AGM yesterday.1
Macquarie Bank is a major shareholder and broker of Empire Energy, which means Macquarie is complicit in steamrolling Traditional Owners who are saying no to fracking on their land.
So yesterday, minutes before the Macquarie Board kicked off their AGM, GetUp and Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network volunteers joined forces to deliver our combined petition of over 20,000 signatures to the bank’s headquarters in Brisbane.
Hours later, during the AGM itself, Traditional Owners and First Nations justice campaigners grilled the Board about Macquarie’s involvement with Empire Energy and fracking in the Beetaloo.
But instead of acknowledging the Traditional Owners on the call, Macquarie dodged their questions and demands for accountability around consent and water contamination.
Macquarie then abruptly ended the meeting, claiming there were no more questions in the queue – denying the seven First Nations people from both here and Texas who were waiting patiently.
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Further insults from @macquariebank – after cutting off multiple First Nations people in their AGM, they have removed all other First Nations proxy holders – from the NT to Texas, avoiding any and all accountability. Shamefully racist behaviour!
#DontFrackTheNT #StopRioGrandeLNG
We’ve seen this kind of thing at AGMs before. When executives know they can’t justify destroying communities and the planet for profit, they gag those of us holding them to account.
But one thing is for sure – Macquarie’s now running scared. Running from its shareholders, from the First Nations people it claims to have consent from, and from the truth.
Yesterday was a stark reminder of the strength of our movement when we speak truth to power and support Traditional Owners against fracking corporations.
With your continued help, we have plans to maintain the pressure on Macquarie Bank – and frackers like Empire and Origin – in the months ahead.
Origin’s AGM is up next in October, and you can bet we will meet them with the full force of our movement like never before.
Thank you for everything you do to make this possible.
In solidarity,
Larissa on behalf of Edie, Amy, Tamika, Nicole, and Tish – GetUp’s First Nations Justice team
All First Nations work at GetUp is led by a team of campaigners from the Widjabul Wia-bul, Garrwa, Gooreng Gooreng, Wiradjuri, Noongar, Gubbi Gubbi, Kulkalgal, and Yanyuwa nations.
PS – Want to ramp up the pressure on Macquarie now that they’re shaking in their boots? Join the twitter storm at GetUp’s Twitter account and hashtag #DontFrackTheNT to let @MacquarieBank know you’re watching!
