The Lock the Gate Alliance released the statement below on April 29.
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The Lock the Gate Alliance has warned the New South Wales Coalition that it risks losing the support of much of the rural vote it received at the last election if it continued to pursue its current policies on mining and coal seam gas.
Lock the Gate president Drew Hutton said the Coalition would make a giant miscalculation if it thought it could get its policies through by driving a wedge between groups participating in the “Protect our Land and Water” rally on Tuesday, May 1.
Hutton said: “Organisations like Lock the Gate, the Farmers Association, the Country Women’s Association, GetUp and the Nature Conservation Council, and community groups such as Stop CSG Illawarra and Stop CSG Sydney, are united in their objective of getting the land and water resources of the state protected from irresponsible resource extraction.
“The Coalition should be more worried about the fact that probably the majority of members of Lock the Gate is made up of farmers and other rural landowners who vote for either the Liberals or the Nationals.”
Hutton will be one of the five speakers on the platform on May 1 representing the Lock the Gate Alliance, an umbrella organisation for more than 140 groups across New South Wales and Queensland.
“Lock the Gate jumped at the chance to be involved in the rally and I am glad to be able to speak to the broad movement that has built up around this issue in NSW,” Hutton said.
“I am proud to be on the platform with speakers from organisations like the Farmers Association and the Country Women’s Association.”
