Cops attack Timbarra protest
By Nick Fredman
LISMORE — Police violently attacked a protest at the entrance to the Timbarra gold mine, under construction near Tenterfield, on January 19. Twelve people were arrested at the peaceful action.
The protest was sparked by a cyanide spill at the mine site and the hospitalisation of a security guard.
Environmentalists have been fighting a long campaign to stop the mine, which threatens to pollute the Clarence River with cyanide and to destroy an area subject to several native title claims.
Police panicked at the size of the latest action, which, at almost 100 people, was bigger than recent protests. Cops grabbed several people without provocation, according to Peter Pumpkin, an organiser of the campaign. The cops were then surrounded by the crowd, and reacted violently.
The confrontation and arrests follow many incidents of harassment against the campaign, including the recent publication of the names of 68 anti-mine activists by the Tenterfield Star.
Despite this, Pumpkin told Green Left Weekly, morale is high and the numbers of campaigners are growing. Two hundred people are staying at the protest base camp and hundreds have been involved in recent fundraisers and events.
To get involved in the campaign phone Peter Pumpkin on (02) 6737 6793.