Water: More precious than Gold
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Water: More precious than Gold
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The story so far… That was the story as Rusty told it to me. But this is really only the beginning of the story. This tale is a saga... Perhaps not of the standards of Homer, but still a journey through many people's lives and into the heart of greed and corruption that lies in the fabric of our society. Stanley Kubrick, I feel, spoke of this in his last movie "Eyes Wide Shut" and though I hope for no such acclaim, Rusty's Story and that of the Fight for Timbarra echoes ancient and powerful themes within Human Society. We have the Bad Guy, Ross Mining, and their accomplices, Government agencies. We have the Good Guys, the underdogs, the outcasts which people have moved in to protect... We have White Knights and Black Knights, and Camelot is under siege. There are many more people involved, and we wanted to present their view on things as well, and as a writer I was concerned as to how we should format this book… How do I make this accessible to the reader? In the end I decided to allow the story to tell itself. Accordingly we present the tales from other people involved, and we have decided to trust that you, the reader, will see the pattern that is forming through all of this. As I write Ross Mining have pulled out of the Timbarra Project, not for ethical reasons, but simply because the price of Gold became too low to make the project economical. When the price goes up, the company they sold out to will be back to pollute Timbarra again… So it is a win only for the moment. But more than this, we have the stories of a number of people who can attest to the ruthless nature of this company and the manner in which they defend their leasehold mining rights. As I was calling to discuss with Rusty the form and nature of this book, we met a fellow who was passing through Nimbin. We will call him John. John is in the business of recruiting mercenaries. He was involved in the Bouganville Fiasco where the New Guinea Government tried to recruit mercenaries in order to gain control of the Bouganville Copper Mine ... And here an extraordinary card was played fromt he deck. When we mentioned Ross Mining and the argument at Timbarra, he informed us that Ross Mining had recently faxed him, asking for mercenaries to protect the Timbarra Project. Rusty and I were amazed that a company could be so blatant about disregarding the obviously negative publicity this would arouse, and later, when the facts were proved we saw the community outraged that is could happen at all. This is the sort of action that third world governments bring about in order to control peasant populations, and hardly what you would expect in a highly industrialised, first world country. Ross Mining had already suffered bad press due to their hired thugs beating up peaceful protesters. Ross Mining had already contacted Bikie Gangs in order to intimidate the Greenies more effectively… The Brothers, on principle, declined the invitation. We were not to know at the time, but Ross Mining had been advised by their Insurance Companies that they would NOT be covered in the advent of damage to the mine due to the protester activity, nor would they be covered if a Mine Worker was harmed. In other words... One accident, and they were bankrupt This appeared to be the time that they decided to bring in professional thugs. Ex Soldiers, mercenaries were going to be called into the Mountain to protect their interests… They needed a private army to defend themselves from Environmental protesters. In their own words, words I saw on the fax sent to me by the Mercenary Organisation Ross Mining had contacted, they were needing mercenaries to save them from Ecological Terrorists. "John", the mercenary, then proceeded to show us the sort of weaponry that would be used against these protesters. He had it all in his boot, would you believe. Pepper Spray, stun prods, rubber bullets… A virtual arsenal calculated not to kill, but to immobilise and hurt. He explained that this was the normal practise when mercenaries were called in to control crowds. I asked if this was normal practise in Australia. He didn’t reply too quickly, but stressed that normally their business was overseas. I asked if any of the mercenaries hired had ever killed people in the course of their job. He simply said "If attacked we have to defend ourselves." The implications were all too obvious. ROSS MINING SECURITY CONCERNS HIGHLIGHTED Rusty asked what constituted being attacked… John answered… "That is exactly the question." To a mercenary, what constituted an attack was a fairly open ended equation. John went on. "There are three levels of dealing with an intruder in a situation such as described at Timbarra… Firstly asking them to leave. Secondly, if they remain, informing them that force will be used to enforce the property and legal rights of the leaseholders. Third, actual force is used." I asked "But the boundaries up on the Mountain can be fairly obscure… What legal position would a mercenary be in if they forcibly evicted someone who was on public ground?" "It would be a question of belief. If the mercenary truly believed that the intruder was on private property, the courts would generally uphold the action." "So, what you are saying is that with hired ex armed forced personnel up there, the protesters would stand little chance at all." Rusty asked. "None what-so-ever." John replied blankly. "These are people trained to deal with crowds, and trained to deal with trouble makers. They have weapons and know how to use them, and though these are non lethal, they are painful and cause loss of consciousness in some cases. A protester would have no chance at all against trained personnel unless they were equipped with similar weapons of defence." I looked at Rusty, and commented. "It seems to me that Ross Mining is counting of the deterrent of sheer brutality to enforce their mining rights." A fellow had joined us. His name was Hawk, and he was one of the people badly beaten up by the Security people Ross Mining had already been using. He was astonished. "Can anyone just do this?" He asked. "No." John replied… "They need to hold specific licenses to have and use these weapons. People do not realise that even police working off duty must have a specific approval from the Commissioner or the head of operations in that area that permits them to work off duty for a particular company. "If Ross Mining have been using off duty police, as is a common practise, I will bet they do not have this special clearance. It would mean all their actions are illegal, and Ross Mining as well as the of duty police would be subject to legal actions from those affected. Just the same if the security personnel prove to be unlicensed. It is highly regulated. "Further to this… Not many realised that a policeman can only work for one security company as an off duty officer. If they have worked for two or more, this is an offence as well. Otherwise a conflict of interest can arise too easily. But even when working for just one other company, the officer MUST have a special clearance duly signed by an appropriate officer." PAID MERCENARIES CONSIDERED To hand, dated the 2nd day of September 1999, I have a fax from the company run by "John" that confirms Ross Mining sought the help of Mercenaries to eliminate what they called "Environmental Terrorism" … It almost makes me smile. The people defending the rights of clean water and public access to Sacred Sites are now terrorists, while the very people acting to destroy an ecological system are the "good guys". I bet the Directors of Ross Mining wear white hats in their dreams as well !! We did not know if Ross Mining had been using Police as personal watchdogs, but the actions of a number of members of the force in Tenterfield indicated that they may have been paid privately to support the interests of Ross Mining. Of course, we have no evidence of this specifically, but consider that numerous people were assaulted and beaten in the Timbarra Forests. Consider that this happened on Public Lands and was clearly done by security personnel hired to do so by Ross Mining. People were hospitalised, trees were logged illegally, huge boulders were moved from the nearby forests and placed over public roads… And no one was charged. No one was charged except some protesters who were defending themselves?. As I say, we can’t prove that Ross Mining were paying the Police to protect their interests, but we must say that the Police actions in this matter seemed to be biased at the very least. We will leave it to the readers to decide what they will given the facts as presented. I might add, that what has been said by Rusty about the protest this writer has seen a good deal of video footage taken at the time that clearly supports and substantiates what he has to say. And now to find that Ross Mining had enquired about the use of professional mercenaries to be used against the peaceful, democratic citizens of a country that has not once seen a war within its sovereign borders… I must say that I personally found this to be disgusting. What is more, it is ill considered. Companies such as this seem to forget that we have an amazing resource of ex-soldiers who really do not have any interest in supporting the Status Quo. Ex Vets from Vietnam that I speak to are more than a little upset by the actions of this company. There is talk of "dealing" with any mercenaries stupid enough to work for a company such as this. And these Ex-Vets are dangerous people, who know how to fight, and know how to use weapons. What is more, they have been trained to protect the interests of Australia, and though they may have little respect for the Government, these people love their country. They do not love Ross Mining. This seems to be setting the stage for a confrontation far greater than anything witnessed before in environmental movement in Australia… And it seems that Ross Mining are the sole cause and motivator of so many of the negative actions and sentiments generated as a spin off to their apparently under hand techniques. This is a company that seems utterly disinterested in respecting native interests, and the interests of those concerned about the state of our forests. And we must remember… We are not dealing with just some piece of desert in the Australian Outback that no one sees, but with pristine Highland wetlands. There are only seven regions on the planet like this, and our government seems blithely unaware and completely disinterested that a private company will be leaching some two tons of cyanide every day into this wetlands, and for who knows how long… This Government seems disinterested that this company is now prepared to bring in paid MERCENARIES to protect them against Greenies? But that’s Ross Mining for you… That’s the New South Wales Government. Somehow I suspect they will all need a VERY good PR agent to defend their actions in this matter. LUNACY RIDES AT TIMBARRA Are we talking Monty Python here? The Ministry of Silly Walks? It seems that no one is interested … Keep in mind that people live adjacent and down stream from this project… Keep in mind that the effects of this pollution will exist for hundreds of years… Keep in mind that the tapping into the main spring that feeds the river system in the area has already seriously affected the water table. Later in the book, where we talk about Mining through the ages, we look at an environmental statement sent into the New South Wales Government by Doctor John Wilson … Read it and be amazed, because not one of the many serious questions he raised were responded to. Beyond all of this… What truly strikes me, though, is the extraordinary way that authorities seem unable to negotiate with groups of environmental activists. These people are not criminals, nor are they dangerous assassins who are seeking to harm individuals. The people who are causing all of this "alarm" are just ordinary folk like you and me… With possibly one major difference... They are just committed to correcting something they firmly believe to be wrong. I cannot but help wonder if a company like Ross Mining wouldn’t do better taking people aside, and simply explaining in an open handed manner exactly what they are doing, and what they intend to do. EDUCATION, NOT CONFLICT? The extraordinary lack of communication is what deeply concerns me. Surely if Ross Mining are so convinced that their project is doing no ecological harm, then they should be able to open their doors and EDUCATE people as to the process they are using? The very fact that they do not seems to indicate they have something to hide. Certainly, I become suspicious when I see how poorly trained and illegally equipped security personnel are effectively used as "bother boys" … A private police force set up to patrol the boundaries and harass protesters. Why? Because this is an issue that is completely set aside from the environmental conditions. It is not an argument for or against pollution of the environment in this area, but I question the rights of private companies to act against the citizens of a democracy. Where are the boundaries? Further to this, there seems a bully like mentality at work here. It seems, or at least it appears, that Ross Mining are more than happy to be seen as antagonists, as confrontationalists rather than conciliatory agents. This puzzles me. Why would a corporation be like this? Isn’t it better to educate rather than seek to eradicate? I would also like to know who gave the authority for Ross Mining to be granted a license in an area where respected conservationist and environmental scientists have pretty much stated is really a no go zone for mining. Why were important documents from authoritative persons that protested the site of this unnecessary Gold Mine were completely ignored. We include a document written by Dr John Wilson that is included in the back of the Chapter "Let’s look at Mining". It is well worth reading through. Essentially though, it was made very clear to the New South Wales Government well in advance of any process of mining getting underway that this area was absolutely unsuited to mining of the type that Ross Mining proposed. Specific Environmental reports were not included, and specific evidence of sensitive fauna was ignored. It seems we have Laws, and sometimes they are obeyed. All animals are created equal, but are some more equal than others?
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