Unions NSW has sponsored a new report, “We Stand With Gomeroi: Trade unions oppose the Santos Pilliga Narrabri gas project”.
Released at NSW Parliament on 18 November, the report outlines a comprehensive case against Santos’s plans to drill 850 coal seam gas wells on Gomeroi land in the Pilliga forest in northwest NSW.
Featured testimony from union leaders includes Allen Hicks, NSW Secretary of the ETU, “The last thing we need is a dirty gas field, with no obligations to hire apprentices, diverting resources away from the ongoing energy transition, and against the wishes of Traditional Owners”.
Michael Whaites, Assistant General Secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, outlines the serious risks to community health.
NSW Nurses and Midwives Association delegate Michelle Cutmore explains, “The Narrabri Gas Project severs the lifeline between people and country, silencing the songlines that carry cultural memory” and the NSWNMA also provide detailed analysis of health risks from both gas-field pollutants and climate change.
The report is the latest solidarity initiative from the Unions NSW Pilliga campaign committee, established in 2022 after the peak union body voted to oppose the Santos gas-field.
This stance came in response to appeals from Gomeroi people, who voted overwhelmingly in March 2022 to reject any Native Title agreement with Santos.
Imposition
The report explains the fundamental weaknesses of Native Title.
“If Aboriginal people oppose a development and refuse an agreement, companies like Santos can apply to the Native Title Tribunal (NTT) seeking permission to mine regardless.”
The NTT ruled in favour of a Santos application in December 2022, leading to a series of appeals.
Extraordinarily, the latest Federal Court hearing set for 25 November was postponed after presiding Justice Natalie Charlesworth removed herself from the case. Gomeroi had made representations to the court querying her close personal relationship with a senior Santos employee. The hearing will now be in March.
Santos also has friends high-up in government, with both Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns backing the project.
In November, Minns vowed to compulsorily acquire any land Santos needs for pipeline infrastructure needed to take the gas to market. These threats apply to farmers, Gomeroi and other Aboriginal peoples who have interests in land along the 833 kilometre pipeline route.
Despite this tough talk, Santos faces an uphill battle in the courts and from community protest. The company has still not made a “final investment decision”. Union power and ongoing Gomeroi resistance can stop the project in its tracks.
By Paddy Gibson
