Water: More precious than Gold
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Water: More precious than Gold
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The Magistrate: In late 1999 Rusty Harris, but one of the many scores of protesters from Timbarra, came up before the Tenterfield Magistrate to tell his story. His solicitor was almost trying to pull him back, trying to say he should not speak up. Clearly he knew what Rusty was going to say, and believed that it might make his fine higher, or put the Magistrate off side. No one wanted him talking about "Golden Babies" and "Visions"… Of course, this did not stop Rusty. He was there to have his say, and speak he did! "I was visited by these Golden Children, Your Worship," he stated, "And they told me that the Earth is meant to be a garden. I came to Timbarra because of this, and no matter what someone can say to me, I know I have followed the truth in my heart." Would words like this put the Magistrate off side? It had the opposite effect, and I swear to you, in that dim dark courtroom a light appeared to dawn over the head of the woman who was the presiding judge in the case. She listened as Rusty told his story, his vision of the Golden Babies, his belief that the Earth needed to be protected… And more to the point, when the Police Prosecutor fiddled through the photos of the beaten up protesters and Conservationist, trying to keep them from her … (As is his right. He technically can choose to state what evidence is inadmissible) Well, she got short with him, and demanded them. She read through all the files, looked at the photos, saying, "So you say you had a vision?" Rusty said he had, and she just nodded. Rusty explained a little more of his motivation, that it was not for himself, but for his children and grandchildren that he was there on the mountain. In short… He told his story, and he was listened to. The magistrate accepted his guilty plea, but suppressed the conviction, awarded no court costs, and said she would waive any fines as well. In other words, Rusty Harris was technically guilty of resisting arrest, but in all honesty she genuinely accepted that Rusty was there because of his conscious. Believe it or not, religious and/or spiritual conviction has its own rights according to Law. It is called "The Separation of Church and State" and there are natural flow on effects with this archaic principle for anyone who is committed to a course of action because their conscious dictates it. If protesting is your religion, in simple terms, then you have an argument in Law to be there. Separation of Church and State The concept of the Separation of Church and State could not have been more appropriately applied in this instance. Given that Rusty and his fellow Brothers and Sisters were defending the most ancient cathedral on the Planet, what more appropriate decision could this magistrate have reached?. Her decision in this matter was not just an acceptance of the genuine nature of the convictions held by Rusty… She was telling the local Police that they had better shape up in the way they were dealing with the protesters at the mine site. It was clear that these protesters were there on conscious… It was also equally clear that many people had been harmed, as she had seen many of them personally tell their stories in her court. And now a 50 year old Grandfather was being charged with resisting arrest from 6 foot tall policemen? Slowly the political manoeuvring behind the scenes was beginning to fall apart. Slowly it was becoming clear that large amounts of public monies were being spent to support a private organisation. The only result of this was a profit margin for Ross Mining and precious little would ever benefit society in the district. In short, Ross Mining were becoming a huge pit into which money fell. And what did the local population get back in return? Trouble and difficulty. This company was taking the gold, creating havoc by their decision to mine just 2 hours away from the most politically active conservation districts in the WORLD, not just Australia, and they were giving nothing back. Ross Mining Fall out of Favour with the Locals Ross Mining had even fired most of the locals who were at work on the project by this stage. I checked while I was there, and found they had just closed its office in town. Where were all the promised Jobs? By now everyone knew Ross Mining only kept a minimal staff at the mine while they leached the last of the already dug heap pads for the gold they needed to cover their costs. Slowly it was dawning that the only jobs that were EVER on offer were temporary one. People rarely understand heap leach methods of ore extraction… Once you have dug up a big pile of rock, crushed it, and set it on the heap pad… All you have to do is pump cyanide over the top, and it leaches out the gold. Three men can run the operation. They forgot to mention this to the town when they were talking about the employment opportunities. They certainly didn’t mention to the town’s people that they could have made far more money over a longer period by just bottling and selling the unique Timbarra Water. And we haven’t even begun to talk about the loss of potential tourism to the area … Somehow all of this was filtering through to this very astute magistrate as Rusty told his story… And when she got the message she effectively slapped the police across the face, and with her judgement, said "Stop this nonsense. Stop this waste of public monies!" The local Tenterfield Court Magistrate exemplified what we are asking each and every one of you to do. She decided that her town, and the rights of humans were more important for that moment than the power of the multi-nationals. She refused to support the police, and by doing so declared her lack of support for ALL that had been going on at Timbarra. Which is a good thing, because as of this date (September 2000) there are fresh reports to hand of leakage and pollution at the Timbarra Mine Site. Will there be another Blockade? How will the Police react this time? With force, or with intelligence? What will be their secret orders in the next round of conflict? I will say one thing for the judiciary in Australia. It will stand up against government and powerful lobby groups to protect the principles of Law. The High Court has many times determined Law by its judgements, and this is hardly possible in any other country in the world. But here, in the little town of Tenterfield, the fairness of the Australian Legal System was put to the test… And I am happy to say it passed with flying colours. I take my hat off to that Magistrate and the way she saw into the true heart of the matter that was placed before her.
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