KNITTING NANNAS NEEDLE NEW NATIONALS CANDIDATE

By TIM HOWARD

 

 

One of the Grafton’s longest running protest groups, The Knitting Nanna Agains Gas, couldn’t let the opening of Nationals Clarence candidate Richie Williamson’s campaign office go without comment.

On balance they have been pleased to see current Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis take a stand against coal seam gas mining in the region.

Spokesperson Leonie Blain said Mr Gulaptis was on the record calling for a CSG ban in the Clarence Valley, but not everyone in the Coalition was on board.

“We came here today to remind the Nationals candidate that the Clarence Valley expects a similar stance from Mr Gulaptis’s successor before we go to the polls,” Ms Blain said.

After the 2015 State election, where Ballina fell to the Greens and the Lismore and Tweed results caused heart tremors for the party, CSG, the Nationals read the tea leaves.

”It’s the biggest issue of concern coming out of the election,” he said. “It would be wrong to ignore it – the community want a gas-field free Northern Rivers,” Mr Gulaptis said at the time.

But others in the party were less supportive, notably outgoing leader Andrew Stoner, who, in his valedictory speech, supported the industry and berated its opponents.

He said they were running “the mother of all scare campaigns, driven and funded by individuals and groups ideologically opposed to the use of any fossil fuels.”

Ms Blain said getting away from all fossil fuel was vital and CSG also remained a threat to farming and food production.

Ms Blain feared the so-called “energy crisis” in Australia and the controversy over gas prices could encourage people to rethink their opposition to CSG mining.

Last week four of the group put up signs outside the Nationals candidate Richie Williamson’s campaign offce in Prince St Grafton.

Four of the Knitting Nannas, Ms Blain, Sarah Fletcher, Diane Dadswell and Nancy Eggins stayed for a couple of hours while the Nationals faithful launched their Clarence Valley election HQ.

 

The Northern Rivers Times.  March 9, 2023.

DEB WHITLEY - ECO-WARRIOR AND KNITTING NANNA

In an article published in "The Echo" on February 13 this year David Lowe remembers Deb  Whitley who died late last year.

REMEMBERING  DEB  WHITLEY

 On Saturday a large group of friends and family gathered to remember ‘eco-warrior’ Deb Whitley at her beautiful property in Glenugie, south of Grafton.

A keen swimmer and lover of nature, Ms Whitley became well-known across the Northern Rivers when she became the first woman to lock on to a Metgasco truck, in an effort to stop the company from establishing an unconventional gas field in the region.

On 4 December 2012, the non-violent blockade of the Avenue, then a sleepy rural lane through a spotted gum forest (now the road to a new prison, bisected by the new freeway), had attracted concerned citizens from across the Northern Rivers, and beyond.

Following Davey Bob Ramsey’s example at the Shannonbrook CSG Ponds, Deb Whitley locked herself under a truck which was attempting to enter the Glenugie site and had been stopped by protesters.

She was accompanied by buddy Philippe Dupuy (later to be arrested for tunnelling under the Metgasco site entrance at Doubtful Creek).

The truck driver refused to turn off his engine, leading to a tense situation, which ended when police arrived to arrest and remove Ms Whitley.

Defying her conditions, she later returned to the blockade site, becoming a key participant in the events of Bloody Monday (7 January 2013), when riot police violently removed peaceful protectors who were blockading the road.

Local legend

The 2012-13 Glenugie blockade was close to Ms Whitley’s property on Aerodrome Road. She achieved prominence for the fact that she was motivated by a desire to protect her home, the water and her neighbours, as she stated in numerous media interviews, which significantly raised the profile of the gas issue.

Unlike the media stereotype of the typical protester, Deb Whitley worked locally, didn’t have dreadlocks and wasn’t a blow-in. At the time she was described as an ‘ordinary person’, but her courage was far from ordinary.

Her action inspired numerous other people to take a similar stand, initially at Glenugie, then at Doubtful Creek, and finally at Bentley, where Metgasco was ultimately forced to leave the region after all local gas exploration licences were suspended.

Originally from Manly in Sydney, Deb Whitley’s joyful approach to life belied the fact that she experienced great tragedy in her life even before she took her stand at Glenugie, losing her partner, two sons and a sister over a short period.

She overcame cancer once, but after she broke her hip, the cancer returned, and she died late last year.

The Northern Rivers remains in Deb Whitley’s debt.

Audiences will be able to celebrate Ms Whitley’s courage again in the forthcoming film Confusing Them With Our Joy, which tells the epic story of the Northern Rivers’ fight against unconventional gas.

 

 

 Deb giving a media interview at Glenugie 2012

Photo: David Lowe

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When the Grafton Knitting Nannas against Gas were formed later 

in the Glenugie  campaign, Deb joined the Knitting Nanna Grafton Loop.