Picket the pipeline Standing with the Gomeroi people against Santos

The IEU has a history of supporting social justice campaigns, including those that protect the rights of First Nations people. On the weekend of 12-13 October, the IEU, along with other unions, farmers and community-based organisations stood with the Gomeroi people in their opposition to Santos’s Narrabri Gas Project and the Hunter Queensland Gas Pipeline.

The Picket the Pipeline convoy travelled from Narrabri to Newcastle along the 400-kilometre route of the proposed Hunter Gas Pipeline. Community gatherings and rallies were held in Gunnedah, Scone, and Singleton.

The event concluded at Civic Park, Newcastle, where Gomeroi elder Suellyn Tighe said, “This fight is a David-and-Goliath fight and we, the Gomeroi nation, are fighting against deep pockets, fossil-fuel companies whose only drive is the bottom line.”

IEU Vice President Support Staff and Aboriginal Education Worker Kylie Booth-Martinez, who addressed the rally.

No stronger fight

Gomeroi Traditional Custodian Karra Kinchela travelled from Narrabri to address the rally. “I cannot express my humbleness at the support of the unions that support our right to self-determination, a right to a healthy environment, our right to speak,” she said. “Just to know that people all over Australia care about our country, our people’s stories, our values, our future, our education, and jobs for our kids, for the future.We’ve got farmers, we’ve got city, we’ve got the country, we’ve got our workers – you can’t get a stronger fight than this.”

Unions NSW Assistant Secretary Vanessa Seagrove told the crowd that the Gomeroi people “have continually protected the Pilliga, it is only right that we stand with them”.

Stewards of the land

Kylie Booth-Martinez, an Aboriginal Education Worker and member of the IEU Executive, spoke about the spiritual and cultural significance of the land to Aboriginal people.

“Aboriginal communities see themselves as stewards of the land, tasked with the sacred duty of nurturing and protecting it for future generations,” she said.

“The Gomeroi people have voiced valid concerns about the detrimental impacts of Santos’s activities on their land, water resources and traditional ways of life. This gas project poses a severe threat to water supplies, jeopardises endangered wildlife and will perpetuate decades of climate pollution.”