Close to 1,000 people marched in Sydney on 8 February to protest against the Abbott government’s decision to allow 3 million cubic metres of sediment to be dumped in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
The environment minister has given the go ahead to four major developments to expand Queensland’s Abbot Point and Curtis Island’s coal facilities.
Chanting “Bullshit! Come off it! The environment is not for profit!” the protesters, some dressed as examples of marine life that will be threatened by the dumping, took to the streets to spread the message throughout Sydney’s CBD.
Addressing the crowd, Greens senator Lee Rhiannon spoke about how donations from mining companies to the Coalition increased by 60 percent in the last year.
Alanna West from Quit Coal contrasted the government’s environmental vandalism with its direct action plan for climate change, “which appears to consist only of forcing welfare recipients to pull weeds in their local parks”.
