Sunday 10 March 2019

KNAGG PROTEST AT PARLIAMENT HOUSE ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2019


United to protect our water

101 enthusiastic Knitting Nannas from around NSW ( including Nanna Purl Stockingstitch from Cairns) converged on Sydney on International Women’s Day to protest outside Parliament House about the state of our rivers and the lack of effective government action to restore their health. The theme of the protest was “No Water no Life”.

The Nannas came from Loops in the Northern Rivers, Grafton, Coonabarabran, Dubbo, Midcoast, Central Coast, Gloucester, New England-North West, Hunter Valley, Illawarra, and Sydney.

Organising the Nannas for the Martin Place photo
They assembled in Martin Place. After collecting their specially designed T-shirts, they donned them and draped their dramatic red, black and yellow sashes across their bodies suffragette style. Then it was time for the photo shoot with the big banner held above the assorted Loop banners.

Some of the Nannas assembled in Martin Place
Fortunately it was only a short walk to Parliament House but it took the milling Nannas a while to shuffle into position along the tall fence outside our state politicians’ lair. Actually parking the many derrières (some of them reasonably broad) on the concrete fence base led to a bit of a squash. Then the Nannas, in the spirit of the suffragettes, used their sashes to tie themselves to the metal spikes that form the fence.
 
Northern River Nannas outside Parliament House
Various politicians joined the Nannas on the footpath to hear about the “knagging list” - the Nannas’ demands for political action.
  • Climate action immediately
  • Transition to 100% renewables
  • Every person to have access to potable water 24/7
  • NSW gas ban
  • Protect and respect Aboriginal sacred sites
  • Create a youth advisory panel
  • Revoke anti-protest laws
And the list concluded with:  Don’t forget to keep your promises! (When you think about it, that’s a pretty tall order given the past efforts of many pollies in keeping promises!)


Hunter Nanna ready for action
It was a great day.  As usual there were many energetic Nannas involved in the organisation of the protest and in the making of those wonderful sashes (sure to become collectors’ items!), printing of the Tshirts and making of the very big banner (United to Protect Our Water).