MOVING MOUNTAINS scenic rim CSG blockade arrests

The 2012 Honour Roll

January 12 Kerry 

Charged at Beaudesert 

Luke Reade 

Steve Ross 

Innes Larkin 

Raphael Wakim 

Richard Zoomers 

Justin Hills 

Asher Zoomers 

Tracey Larkin 

Brad Beaverson 

January 13 Kerry 

Charged at Beaudesert 

Piers Shapely 

Juanita Wanda Halden 

Alan Roberts 

January 14 Kerry 

Charged at Beenleigh 

Daniel Robins 

January 18 Kerry 

Charged at Beaudesert 

Gary Wilson 

January 19 Silverdale 

Charged at Ipswich 

Linda Weston

MOVING MOUNTAINS linda weston - mosquito in a bucket

Reclusive and insular - the words that best described my lifestyle up until 2011

The first I knew of the proposed Mintovale open-cut coal mine at Croftby was a front-page newspaper headline. Subsequent searches provided me with information that left me horrified. A boundary for the Mintovale MDL was a mere 280 metres from our back deck and I also found that our property was covered by a CSG exploration permit. A double whammy.

At first, I felt nothing but a sense of numbness, soon giving way to episodes of tears on the back deck while I looked around me.

Was I guilty of ignorance regarding what had been going on? Yes! Would crying over it achieve anything? No! Could I do something about it? I wanted to, but what?

I had heard the opinion that one person, a mere drop in a bucket, could achieve nothing. All my life I have held on to the belief that, if drops keep going into a bucket, the bucket will eventually fill. How could I help fill the bucket?

Word of the pending Kerry Blockade reached me in early January 2012. People were getting arrested, and I was ready for action. Never having received so much as a parking ticket in my life, I had always found the idea of doing anything against the law abhorrent – something to be feared. The law was meant to protect us. But I could see increasing injustices. I decided I would stand. My son, Cameron, elected to stand beside me.

The morning of 19 January 2012 dawned clear and cloudless. Along with the blockade at Kerry, a flash protest at the drill site at Silverdale on the Cunningham Highway was about to happen. This time I was not going to move aside when asked.

There are instances when time seems to stand still. For a brief stretch of time, everything seemed to stop when I realised that Cameron was inside the compound and running to the drill rig.

After clambering up, he sat in the baking summer sun, proudly waving a triangular yellow Lock the Gate sign at passing traffic.

The police, when they did arrive, made a deal with Cameron. If he climbed down and left the compound with them, he would not be arrested or charged. Relief. I could have cheerfully throttled him as he exited the compound, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Instead, I told him he'd done enough for one day. I would stand alone.

We stood in position, roughly 20 of us, in a line in front of the locked gate. The senior sergeant gave the warning and asked us to move. Fellow protesters gradually moved aside. I stood my ground and, after being given three chances to move, I was arrested.

No drama. No circus. Just a peaceful, grey-haired, middle-aged protester strolling between two police officers to the police vehicle and then taken to Ipswich watchhouse. On arrival I was put into a chilly cell and there was no telling how long I was likely to be there. Wanting to put the time to some use, I settled, relaxed, meditated, and began to formulate a song from my heart that eventually became SOS - Save our Scenic Rim. Time passed.

When I was finally charged and released, the nature of my charges didn't sink in. I was tired - dazed, almost. The whole experience had become surreal. At first, I didn't realise the severity of being charged under the Petroleum and Gas Act, charges that carried a maximum penalty of $50,000. I was the second person to be charged under the Act, Drew Hutton being the first.

The words of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet came to mind: “If you think you're too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito”. They had decided to try to slap a mosquito with a sledgehammer.

During the next few weeks, legal processes and procedures were explained to me and I was given options: plead guilty at the first mention and get things over and done with, or seek an adjournment and take this thing to trial. I believed that pleading guilty would likely leave the way open for similar charges being thrown at peaceful protesters. If I saw this through, then perhaps a precedent would be 
set to discourage future instances of this happening. Could I do this?

Weeks turned to months. During those months I rode an emotional roller coaster, ranging from steely determination and thoughts of a positive outcome to feelings of helplessness.

A welcome distraction came in July when New South Wales woman Lesley McQueen put out the call for a Scenic Rim person to meet her at the Queensland - New South Wales border to continue an awareness-raising walk against the proposed Metgasgo CSG pipeline. Lesley would walk from Casino to the border, carrying a bottle of pristine water taken from the Richmond River. The water would be handed over to Queensland and carried to Swanbank Power Station. I volunteered.

Planning for the walk was well underway but my hearing date was approaching. When the day finally came at Ipswich Courthouse, it all happened so quickly. The police prosecutor tendered ‘insufficient evidence’ and the charges were dropped. Case dismissed! The court room erupted into cheers and applause. I would commence the Queensland leg of the Walk Against Gas in a week's time with an infinitely lighter load.

Cameron had elected to join me for the 125 kilometre walk and my husband, Rob. had no hesitation in volunteering to drive the support vehicle. We had become a family team of three.

Support during the Walk Against Gas came in many forms and was always welcome. Rounding a bend to see the Green Eureka flag flying above a boiling billy as we approached a rest stop is a sight I will never forget.

Mostly we walked alone. Rob, always in the near distance behind us in the support vehicle, was fondly dubbed 'The Walker Stalker'.

No matter how small a part any of us thinks we are playing, we can all contribute in our own way. And still, to this date, no other protestor has been charged under the Petroleum and Gas Act.

Will I continue to be an annoying mosquito? Absolutely! A drop in a bucket? Definitely! I might even be a mosquito in a bucket.

MOVING MOUNTAINS rod anderson's story

I knew I might get arrested but I was p….d off. I wanted them to hear me out.

The first I knew of gas drilling in Kerry Valley was when Michael Undery said he was worried. I trusted him and he wasn’t a radical person. Michael and Sally also employed some of my family, put food on my table and gave my kids a start in life. If their business was going to be at threat, it was going to threaten my construction business and it could threaten the valley.

So on the first day I turned up for Michael. And on the second day I turned up because there were people from everywhere coming in to help - they’d made the effort to be there and I wanted to know why everyone thought it was so important. I knew I also had to make my own decisions. That’s why I stood there for ten days, stewing very quietly by the strainer post, but saying nothing.

It was about sticking up for people who were getting the raw end of the deal. It was so unfair on so many levels. There was no regard given to people who had built a beautiful community of not only lovely people, lovely families, but also little farms that had made a difference in everyone’s lives. There was absolutely no regard given to that. And the thing that annoyed me more than anything was that the people representing the State Government, and more so Beaudesert, had their heads so far up their own arses that they didn’t stick up for us.

I kept things close to my chest because I didn’t want to be seen to be a fruit loop and because that's not the way you do things in the bush. Our way is to talk things over. But they refused to talk to us so I felt suspicious and pretty much backed into a corner.

At the start I believed I couldn’t get myself arrested because I had a business to run. Then all of a sudden we heard the drill rig was leaving. I remember saying: "What about if we threw all the hats on the ground and let’s just see if they’re dumb enough to drive over the top of them?" For me, the hats represented people, so essentially I felt they were driving over people just like they were driving over our dreams and our community.

From the time I put those hats down, I knew in my heart a lot of those police officers felt that we really we weren’t being treated properly. I thought that would be a really brave police officer to start kicking the hats out of the way. I knew I might get arrested, but I was angry and I wanted them to hear me out. 

I said: "I’ve got something to say here and I’m not gonna let you stop me. Has anyone really told you what it’s like? Why we’re here? We are genuinely good people. And we have been forced to come down here and bark like mongrel dogs." I really felt no-one was listening.

As I spoke, everything poured out. I remember not feeling in the slightest bit of ‘what do I say now?' I meant everything I said.

When the blockade ended, I went into a bit of a personal crisis. I was still consumed, but I was very, very, mindful that it could mess my business up something ferocious. I was scared I was going to completely ruin everything that I’ve ever worked for.

I was also worried people would think I was misrepresenting things because I was actually a builder first and a farmer second. It was too much attention. At first I didn’t realise what I had created but I did know I didn’t want to be any kind of frontman.

I also went through this big anxious thing of 'who is this guy?' 'What right does he have to be talking and throwing hats on the ground on behalf of the Kerry Valley?' Now I know - because I’ve been told - that was the right thing. And I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m so glad that I did it because no one else was going to.

I know if everyone had said ‘she’ll be right’, it would not have been right. Look at Tara now, look at the farms on the Darling Downs now with messed up water and subsidence where they drilled.

I’m still riding the ups and downs of the construction industry and getting my hands in the dirt whenever I can.

MOVING MOUNTAINS michael and sally undery's stories

Michael's story

Driving down the road wondering 'What is this going to do?, 'What is actually happening?' and 'How will all this end up?' This is how I remember the first day of the Kerry Blockade.

We parked the cars, took the chairs out of the back and sat them down in front of the entrance gate to the drill rig, ready to blockade the workers' entry.

The workers turned up, rang the police and so it started.

Sometime earlier we had found out that an Arrow Energy exploration well was happening on the Nindooinbah Estate Road next to Kerry Creek.

There was unanimous support for CSG not to happen. Landholders were concerned about contaminants in water and water levels in ground water dropping if coal seam gas mining were allowed in the Kerry Valley.

As is being proven now on the Darling Downs, soil subsidence due to large volumes of water extraction was another reason not to have coal seam gas mining in Kerry or the Scenic Rim as a whole.

Each day on the blockade was different. It is all a bit of a blur and I don’t remember all the comings and goings. Politicians came and went, promising this and that. What I do remember was all the neighbours turning up, coming and going with food and chatting. I was heartened by the local support. Not everyone could be on the blockade all the time but they would drop in when they could and lend support.

We were lucky it was school holidays. It had rained so we didn’t have to irrigate and, despite it being summer, it wasn’t too hot. I do remember bringing home guests for a bed and shower after they got wet on a rainy day.

The day Bob Irwin turned up was an emotional time. I was moved that he would take his time to come and support us. I felt the meeting Bob joined us for in the demountable office with Arrow on site showed them our determination, that we were serious about protecting our Kerry Valley. I don’t know what it achieved but they left soon after!

I was dairying at the time and supplying Norco Co-operative. Norco was very supportive of what we were doing. So much so that Norco developed a policy on coal seam gas extraction.

I feel the blockade increased the knowledge base of the risks of CSG and the people of the Scenic Rim have given others a template on how to fight CSG.

Sally's story

The Kerry Blockade was a life-changing event. I am ever grateful for Heidi Ross and the role she played encouraging people like me who knew the dangers but were just too busy to act until it was too late!

I can remember slowly becoming aware of CSG, hearing of lack of due diligence and the lack of baseline data to prove the damage was done by fracking. I had a cousin whose place became difficult to work with a pipeline running through it. It was the little things that just kept filtering through.

As a dairy farmer who is responsible for quality assurance – the backbone of Australia’s food safety and quality records - this lack of accountability was making me feel uncomfortable.

Discovering that the Scenic Rim had petroleum exploration licences covering it was overwhelming at the time and, when combined with managing a family and busy dairy, I was tempted to ‘just accept what I can’t change’. A communicator and leader, it was Heidi’s indignant verbal throwing up of her arms to my negative thoughts that rerouted me away from my apathy. I decided to 'at least let others know about the exploration licences'.

Public meetings juggling computers and dongles for internet access followed. It was surprising how many people I knew and didn’t know came along to find out if their properties came under these exploration licences. Shockingly, most properties in the Scenic Rim were under one type of exploration licence or another.

The meetings were followed by a Protestors on Peaks national day of action. People from all over the Scenic Rim climbed to the top of mountains and unfurled home-made banners. We were personally involved in the banner on top of The Lost World (Mt Razorback) in the Lamington National Park – STOP CSG in the LOST WORLD VALLEY. Those who were unable to climb stretched out their own banners in the paddocks and cultivations.

It was with horror we then found a drill rig in our area at Kerry. With the relevant companies holding the licences unable to produce plans for thorough, relevant baseline testing before exploration, we wondered how we should approach this new situation.

After much deliberation and local consultation, Michael and I decided that we would support a coordinated resistance to the drilling. We weighed up all the facts. The resource company (Arrow at the time) was drilling with the intent of fracking without having done the science to prove it would not affect our limited underground water and without comprehensive relevant baseline testing. Without the baseline testing, we would be unable to prove their actions caused damage. ……. but wait ………..without the science to prove it wouldn't damage our water they shouldn’t even be starting it!

And so, the thought process went on……

We discussed it all with other locals. I can remember sitting in the office watching the emails and seeing a note come in from John Shirley. It had a simple message and I can’t remember the exact words but it was along the lines of 'if you blockade you can use our property beside it to camp on'. I printed it out and placed it under Michael’s eyes. He was sitting beside Heidi Ross, who had Innes Larkin by her side.

And so, the blockade began.

Early on the morning of 12 January 2012, locals gathered at our place, chairs at hand, twitching nervously and chattering quietly. Michael and the kids scooped up our chairs into the back of the ute and bravely drove off while I stayed home and milked.

To say we were out of our comfort zone would be a massive understatement. We were confident though, that we had the right to defend our land, our water and our right to produce clean, healthy food that would pass every quality assurance test. We were confident we had the right to say: “Do the science first! You don’t have the right to damage our ability to produce food or damage the world we live in irreversibly." We had the right to say that there was evidence from landholders that all has not gone to plan in western Queensland. We were confident we needed to demand comprehensive baseline testing, so in the event of problems it could be proven the damage had been caused by the resource company.

And so, our mantra – science first and comprehensive relevant baseline testing!

As the locals flowed in, Heidi and Innes carried the frontline supported by Cassie McMahon. People were arrested, meals were made, delivered and shared. Comfort zones were pushed and kids played while their parents chatted.

After a couple of days, ‘outsiders’ appeared. At first, they were treated with mistrust but, as we got to know each other, a lovely thing happened, realisation that we were all on the same side and that we could all work together – and work together we did. Locals came and went, providing food and facilities, while visitors camped (on John and Annette Shirley’s property) and kept vigil at night. An outsider climbed the rig in dramatic fashion and a local threw down his hat in the most moving of closing speeches.

That we managed to hold this blockade for 10 days and successfully disrupt the resource company’s drilling was not a miracle. It was the result of wonderful genuine leadership from Heidi, Innes and Michael combined with locals who were prepared to stand up for their basic rights supported by visitors who were prepared to put their money where their mouth was.

We still, to this day, do not have the science to prove that fracking won’t damage underground water. To my knowledge, there is not yet comprehensive and fully relevant baseline testing of every parameter that CSG extraction can affect.

While we may not have been able to convince the government or the resource industry of the need for due diligence, the incredible achievement of removing CSG exploration or extraction from not only Kerry but also the whole of the Scenic Rim is one we should all be proud of!

Congratulations to all the people who were part of this amazing piece of history!

MOVING MOUNTAINS heidi ross' story

I just went to war … to make it impossible for them.

There was a time when stopping coal and coal seam gas in the Scenic Rim dominated my life. For close to two years I put everything aside and just worked to make sure it didn’t happen.

I couldn’t believe that miners could legally drill within 200 metres of our houses and tourism retreats. And, if they found enough gas or coal (which lots of test bores apparently did), they could turn our homelands into dusty coal mines, gas fields and hills criss-crossed with access roads with trucks and mining vehicles dominating it all.

I just went to war. More than 80 per cent of our region was covered with exploration permits. Other communities taken over by mining said we needed to fight… and fast. We needed to make sure miners and the government knew we would do anything and everything to make it impossible for them to set up here. So we did.

I was inspired by the energy and passion of Innes and Tracey Larkin from Mt Barney Lodge and we quickly became the key organising team for Keep The Scenic Rim Scenic. We were fiercely determined to spread the word and make sure everyone understood the urgency. It was relentless.

Looking back, I feel sick to the stomach to realise how much we gave up to do this. My photo timeline reflects little periods of life interspersed with gas, gas, gas (and a bit of coal). Crowded public meetings, yellow triangles everywhere, the breathtaking banners on our magnificent Scenic Rim peaks and, of course, the blockade.

My dogged determination wasn’t healthy but it was how I lived it. In retrospect, it took a big toll on my personal life, mental health, marriage, family, health and business. I have huge gratitude for my husband at the time, Steve Ross, who somehow held together our lives while I was deep in the trenches of our war.

I put a lot of energy into getting media coverage. Surely the State Government and others would see they’d made a mistake.

Regional communities across Australia were also running resistance campaigns. In Gloucester, they’d got results by physically standing in front of a worksite to stop mining activity and force dialogue. That seemed extreme, but our letter writing and requests for consultation weren’t getting big results. We needed to force Arrow Energy to see the Scenic Rim community did not accept their plans. This was the tipping point. We were blockade virgins and terrified but we felt we had nothing to lose.

Charged with adrenaline, we went head-to-head blocking access to Arrow’s Kerry Valley drill rig. I stood that first day and every day after, glued to my phone co-ordinating media and also part of the key team holding our blockade together. When Daniel Robins climbed the rig, Arrow Energy was suddenly willing to talk. At first they said our requests seemed fair and reasonable, but they quickly recanted. It was harrowing but we were steadfast and strong.

More and more people were willing to get involved and to be arrested. I believe Arrow Energy realised they were losing the PR battle and the delays from our blockade were bleeding them financially. On radio, soon-to-be Queensland Premier Campbell Newman told Arrow they were not welcome in the Scenic Rim and they ‘should pack their bags and go home’.

Some time later, drilling records submitted to the Mining department proved the company pulled out of the region before their drill rig reached the full depth of the coal seam.

Arrow taunted the Scenic Rim community for a few years, renewing permits and announcing viable reserves of gas. It’s a spectre that haunted us and I notice an element of fight and flight still lives in my body. Arrow might be gone, but the State Government still hasn’t committed to a permanent ban on coal and gas mining in the region.

In 2016, I moved away from the Scenic Rim. I’m now owner-building a house on Coochiemudlo Island, but I’m never far away if the bastards try to come back.

Heidi's book Mongrel Dogs of the Scenic Rim packed with photos, paintings and personal accounts, is a celebration of human connection and a fierce desire to protect what we love. 

The printed coffee table book is available from The Centre in Beaudesert, or you can buy it direct from Heidi online for $24.99 including postage. 

MOVING MOUNTAINS paul coyne's story

I’m a great believer in Sun Tzu’s strategy of “Win first, then go to war”. My goal was to find a fatal flaw in the ambition of Allegiance Coal.

In 2002, my role as an IT Consultant allowed me to work remotely, leading me to purchase a 49 hectare property at Croftby. By 2005 I had established a home there, taking advantage of the stunning views across to Mt Moon and the Great Dividing Range.

I had long held concerns about the impacts of mining on the unique and ancient landscapes of this amazing country, and I was fortunate enough to travel widely where I was able to see these impacts first hand. Along the way I visited the Argyle Diamond Mine and the Mount Whaleback iron ore mine in Western Australia, and the massive Leigh Creek Coal Mine in South Australia.

Arriving home from travels in late August 2011, I saw an article in the Fassifern Guardian about the ambitions of Allegiance Coal to progress a Mineral Development Licence over an area of 244 hectares at Croftby to a Mining Lease. A five-million tonne open-cut coal mine with a life of 15 years was planned.

This led to me working with neighbours to establish the Croftby Community Group - another BOSS subcommittee - where I was able to help coordinate and communicate community objections to the proposed mine. Croftby was also being targeted for CSG, so in early September the group aligned its efforts with KTSRS. Over time, the Croftby Community Group evolved to become a collective of some 120 people who were desperate to ensure the unique values of the Scenic Rim were protected.

It was a challenging time and required significant effort from a lot of people but, in the end, Allegiance Coal surrendered its Mineral Development Licence on 27 November 2014.

After retiring, using what I had learnt living at Croftby, I transitioned to part-time work providing environment consultancy services. In 2019, I moved to the Redlands to be closer to my children and grandchildren, and remain involved in environmental projects.



Paul prepared a detailed report - a personal perspective on the community fight against the proposed Mintovale open-cut coal mine at Croftby and Arrow Energy’s Coal Seam Gas ambitions across the Scenic Rim. 

MOVING MOUNTAINS daniel robins' story

One swift decision changes teacher to activist

On the first day I visited the Kerry Blockade I met a local man who was standing beside me, leaning on the fence in shock after the arrest of a few local people, and told me his name was Rod Andersen. We both stared straight ahead at the drill rig maybe 10 metres away. I had an impulse to climb the drill rig, so I turned to Rod and said: “Can you hold these?” I handed him my hat and glasses and, before he could reply, I jumped over the gate and hit the ground running, until I got to the drill rig unchallenged.

I climbed up on to the rig and climbed to the top. As I sat there, there was a long silence. I wasn’t sure if I’d done the right thing. I hadn’t run this idea by anyone. I looked down at the police and workers scratching their heads. Rod was at the gate - still in shock.

Prior to this decision, I toured Queensland CSG fields. I visited north Queensland and saw where the gas was being processed and exported and saw the damage the industry had done to Gladstone Harbour and Curtis Island. I went to Toowoomba and visited cattle farmer Anne Bridle to see the destruction the gas industry had caused on her property. I visited Dayne Pratzky in Tara, near Chinchilla Queensland to see the air and noise pollution created by a full-scale gas field. It was horrendous.

People at the Kerry Blockade were telling us we had to stop this drilling or the ground water would be irreversibly damaged. I was thinking of all the destruction I had just witnessed in Gladstone, Toowoomba, and Tara.

The idea that this beautiful valley of green rolling hills and creeks was going to be fracked, drilled and contaminated was too much to take.

I found myself atop a gas drill rig with only a steel frame for me to hold on to. I stayed up there all day and night in the January Queensland heat. The police were constantly trying to talk me down, and refused to give me food or water. I was determined to stay until someone from Arrow Energy could assure us that this drilling would not contaminate the ground water.

Being several metres above ground I was able to call various media outlets - ABC, Channel 9, and Josh Fox (US film director of Gasland). I even talked to Bob Irwin.

As darkness fell, I became tired. The police asked me to put a harness on and I agreed. Then, late at night, the police directed a powerful floodlight directly into my eyes to wake me up. It was very powerful. I still struggle with bright lights to this day. I asked the police to turn off the light or I would throw off their harness. They agreed and largely left me alone for the rest of the night.

By mid-morning, the media had arrived and people started to assemble at the gate. Around midday Bob Irwin arrived, and helped negotiate my safe descent, into a waiting police van.

I was taken back to Beenleigh remand centre to stay overnight. The next day I was taken upstairs to a court room. The magistrate, who was also a local landowner, seemed angered that I had been locked up for so long.

He ordered that I be set free immediately.

I then went back to work as a high school teacher in country New South Wales, and also set up some local groups against gas. Sometimes I took leave without pay to work for Lock The Gate Alliance. I spoke at the international Anti-Fracking Conference in Paris in 2015. The stories of how we had stopped gas companies in Queensland inspired others around the world.

In recent years I decided to study environmental law and will complete my studies in 2023.

MOVING MOUNTAINS innes larkin's story

Spokesperson for Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic

Moving to the Scenic Rim and living at Mt Barney Lodge changed me and my awareness of our natural world. I became more aware that nature was not just 'out there' but that we were an integral part of it and, if we poisoned the water, or the soil, we were poisoning ourselves. So, the concept of mining and its enormous environmental impacts next to Mt Barney represented a clear threat to me, my environment and required action.

I vividly remember sitting talking to the original journalist who broke the story in the Beaudesert Times – Gary Corbett. He said:

I cannot tell you what to do, that is not my role, but what I can say is that communities that do nothing end up with coal mines in their backyard, and communities that fight, don’t … What you do is up to you!

My unique role in stopping coal and gas extraction in the Scenic Rim was believing that we could do it and having the energy and passion to follow through. Many farmers, landowners and residents would ask me: “Why are you doing this? What is in it for you?” and the honest answer is because it had to be done, and I had the skills and energy to do it.

As a teacher, I do not find talking in front of groups daunting and I can collate large amounts of data/research into concepts which are easily presented in a large group setting. This allowed me to be the spokesperson for Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic (KTSRS) and present the amazing information that was being researched and collated by others, and speak passionately about why it was important to ‘Lock the Gate’.

A local tourism icon, the late Sue Overell, who was in conversation with me one day, spoke around her amazement at my energy and passion and the words that came out next have stayed with me.

She said: “Innes, you are hyperactivity, well directed….”

That direction has come primarily through a shared vision with my wife, Tracey, and then all the spectacular people like Heidi Ross, who also helped rally the community together and did the research, ran communication, helped with market stalls and community cabinets, stuffed mailouts into letters and the million other really significant jobs that needed to be done.

I am forever grateful for all the people who involved themselves to create a coal and gas-free Scenic Rim. It is a legacy that cannot be taken away and we should all be proud.

At each step in the campaign, the stakes got more and more real. Firstly there was the threat of coal and gas, then there were the protests to try to stop it, and then there was the drill rig testing the amount of gas under the earth, threatening our land and water. When Tracey and I were arrested on the first day of the Kerry Blockade, I remember feeling devastated that our voices were not being listened to. I remember feeling powerless to protect our region. I naively believed that when you have good and right behind you that you will prevail.

I now realise that democracy only works well when you are actively engaged and so after the Kerry Blockade I take every opportunity to engage in the protest to save our planet, from traveling to protests in Maules Creek, Bentley and the Pilliga, to flying to Canberra to lobby for Lock the Gate, to being on the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage advisory committee, to being on the board of Ecotourism Australia and Lock the Gate, to working with the Climate Council in publications concerning climate change and its impacts, to running as an Independent in the 2019 federal election.

I am in the process of documenting the historic success of KTSRS’s campaign with the goal of inspiring other communities to follow our successful pathway. The book will be titled Don’t Play Their Game.

I am still very connected to the natural world and love protecting country, as well as inspiring others to do the same.

When I am not working, you will find me surfing or walking in a natural area.

MOVING MOUNTAINS cassie mcmahon's story

Supporting communities battling the Goliath

My concern about the coal industry started at a young age. I grew up in a coal mining town. We lived across the road from a coal-fired generator, and I watched my mother suffer severe asthma attacks.

I have dear friends from Kiribati. They told me how the graves of their elders were being consumed by the sea, and that food farming was increasingly difficult due to the rising sea level. Scientists have stated that rising sea levels are a result of climate change.

Concerned about climate change, I learned that burning coal is one of the biggest contributors, and that unconventional gas was a new industry that created even greater greenhouse gas emissions than coal.

My mother, who grew up in the Galilee Basin, educated me about the important resource of the Great Artesian Basin, aquifers and groundwater. Scientists were raising concerns about how the unconventional gas would impact this precious resource. What? Contaminate groundwater, dewater aquifers, damage the Great Artesian Basin? CRAZY!

My David and Goliath campaigns started in the early noughties. I had been volunteering for 6 Degrees, a collective of Friends of the Earth Brisbane. We had been working with coal and gas-affected communities. Friends of the Earth established an office in Warra, on the Western Downs, to connect with communities in that area. This is how the Queensland component of Lock the Gate Alliance was born.

I had met members of KTSRS at a retreat at Mt Barney Lodge for the coal and gas-affected communities in Southern Queensland.

One of the outcomes was a co-ordinated massive banner drop at Kangaroo Point Cliffs, Brisbane. The 10 to 15m banners had messages from coal and gas-affected communities in Southern Queensland.

I was asked if I could come to Kerry Valley to support farmers at the Kerry Blockade. My role included supporting the locals to organise a blockade, to help liaise with the police, and support locals during 'cop shop pickups' and when attending court.

I still remember how all the Kerry folk were out of their comfort zone but determined to make a stand. Each day of the blockade, people became more confident to stand up to the industry in their unique ways.

Over the years I have supported various other communities in the the Moreton/Clarence, Surat and Galilee Basins.

I’ve had the opportunity to organise some significant events such as Walk against Warming marches in Brisbane, the first Climate Camp, the first Rock the Gate Festival, the Big Day Out at Jondaryan, the first Beyond Coal and Gas Forum, and a Food Security Forum at the Brisbane Convention Centre. Many town hall meetings, movie screenings and cups of teas in homesteads also occurred.

I have been involved in various court proceedings to prevent the development of Coal mines. These have included cases against Xstrata (now Glencore), GVK Hancock, and Adani (now Bravus).

After experiencing what I term ‘climate despair’, I now work in disaster management. Climate change is going to cause more frequent and intense natural disasters, so I assist communities to become prepared and resilient.

In my spare time, I enjoy singing, riding my bike, and travelling in my campervan.

MOVING MOUNTAINS tracey larkin's story

Communications for KTSRS and events coordinator

I was happily operating Mt Barney Lodge and raising a young family when plans for a dirty brown open-cut coal mine just up the road caught my full attention.

As someone whose life revolved around eco-tourism I was horrified and immediately worried about the impact on country and wildlife. I soon learned that even the unique World Heritage-listed Mt Barney National Park could be drilled under and exploited.

Gary Corbett - who was working as a journalist for Beaudesert Times - quickly helped me understand that no help was coming. I couldn’t just hand over my concerns to a non-existent superhero who would set things right.

My initial motivation was to save our business. Mt Barney Lodge had been built by my husband Innes Larkin’s family and it was now my home and the home of my children. It was also a special place where people came from far and wide to be in nature. That was not an experience that I could see alongside mining. No tourist wants to visit a gas field or camp next to a coal mine.

Driven by a sense of injustice and concern for the future, I envisaged a few months of involvement. Obviously I had no inkling I was at the start of something that would last a decade.

The first two years were hugely intense. What began as one coal mine became two … and then we realised coal seam gas exploration permits covered the region. I could not look away.

I already had a full-time job raising children, and another running the lodge, and now I had another job: fighting off coal and CSG extraction.

Initially, the most important thing was to spread the word and mobilise our community. Stuck behind a computer - in the early morning hours before everyday life began or late into the night - I became one of the key organisers. I helped strategise, co-ordinate events and I’d write - over and over again - letters and submissions to lobby anyone who’d listen, including councils, governments and tourism bodies.

My husband, Innes, was spokesperson for Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic (KTSRS) and we were a dynamic and effective tag-team, getting big ideas off the ground. I was his sounding board and it was a constant stream of evolving ideas, formulating actions and phone calls. Often

Innes was away, speaking and lobbying as far away as Canberra (in the days before Zoom!), and I was carrying more of the load of our business and family. But, despite the mental challenges of both our volunteer actions, I mostly remember it as being a dynamic and positive time, and something I wanted to see through to the end.

Although taking action could have led to the direct loss of Mt Barney Lodge guests and distraction from the business, taking no action would have been more damaging. Our activism became part of our successful brand. Leadership sometimes looked like my decision to get arrested at the Kerry Blockade, where considered actions fast- tracked the media attention. It is true that I phoned ahead to Lodge staff to check my arrest availability and baby sitting plans first!

Protestors on Peaks was one of my ideas - more than 1,000 people took part and we created amazing photos that showcased our spectacularly beautiful region to a significantly wider audience.

I organised the Climate Stripes float entry into the 2019 Boonah Christmas Festival Parade which was planned as low-cost ‘guerrilla activism’ to gain wider awareness for the newly formed Business 4 Climate Action group. It felt great to be doing something creative with other like-minded people for the build and parade. And it felt really positive to be taking action on climate change so soon after the Black Summer Bushfires.

I am still operating Mt Barney Lodge and am very pleased to know that my efforts contributed to this region remaining environmentally special. In 2021, the Scenic Rim featured in The Lonely Planet guide’s Top Ten Regions in the World to visit in 2022.

I got through with the mantra “Eat the elephant one bite at a time!”