The future is looking bleak if coal seam gas mines continue to pop up around Australia, according to environmental activist Jacky Cain.
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“These mines create pollution that damages this world. This isn’t just going to affect us, but future generations,” she said.
Jacky joined rank with thousands of other protesters to march through the streets of Sydney in late March, calling on the government to put a stop to coal seam gas and coal mining.
“The rally was held exactly one year out from the next election. If the politicians don’t get the message come 2019, they won’t get my vote,” Jacky said.
The “Time to Choose” rally kicked off at Martin Place and ended at Prince Alfred Park.
“I had never seen such a large turnout. You had people coming from up the coast and all over the state to march for this cause,” Jacky said.
The protesters marched around two kilometres to pressure the government to shift their focus to renewable energy.
“I know there are a lot of councillors at Moree who support this kind of future; this is seen from the solar farms and renewable projects going up around this area,” Jacky said.
Jacky’s fight for a cleaner future spans more than five years, but she admits she has witnessed the effects of global warming for a much longer time now.
Her father, being a Coonabarabran man, Jacky frequently visited Pilliga Forest.
“I remember going to the river as a kid and catching fish. There was plenty of fresh air, native trees and gorgeous wildlife,” she said.
The Pilliga boasts the largest semi-arid, temperate eucalyptus woodland in NSW. Independent oil and gas producer Santos has targeted the site for its fracking projects.
“The only way that we are going to stop this, is through people power. People need to be made aware of what is happening around them.
- Jacky Cain
Santos is drilling through three basins, the Murray-Darling Basin, the Surat Basin and the Gundagai Basin to access the coal seam. Groundwater experts have expressed concern about the contamination and pollution of the Great Artesian Basin.
“Water is life. Without it, there can be no future,” Jacky said.
Jacky says where there was once life at some of the sites at Pilliga Forest, there is now nothing.
“There are no animals roaming around, no native wildlife, not even a bird or a butterfly. The pollution is being sent into the air and destroying everything.”
Jacky not only holds the forest close to her heart for its natural beauty, but also its rich cultural history, as it contains many sacred sites to the Aboriginal community. She said the pursuit for coal seam has had bulldozed some of the sites and jeopardised the Dreamtime.
“My father told me stories from the Dreamtime, and I’ve told my children these stories and they’ve told their children. These stories talk about everything of the earth, but we’re losing our native trees and food.”
For Jacky, one of her biggest fears is that the mines will make their way towards Moree. She said, on some level, she was already feeling the changing tide.
“The heat today is much worse than it was when I was growing up as a child.”
She said, at times, the fight against coal mining was overwhelming.
“It makes me cry. I am a peacemaker, but these people are destroying the earth.”
To combat it, Jacky said she hoped to host a meeting in the community to spread the message on the impacts of coal seam gas on the environment.
“The only way that we are going to stop this, is through people power. People need to be made aware of what is happening around them.”
