Arise Australian women & save our farming land: Dame Bashir

 “We should err on the side of caution with food producing farmland. Once gone, we can’t get it back.”

When the likes of Dame Marie Bashir declares herself a political activist you have to take notice.

She retired last November after 13 years as the Governor of NSW (aged 84). Having maintained a necessary impartiality on political matters for such a long time, she has perhaps surprised even herself in coming out strongly against the mining of productive farmland.

Dame Marie Bashir says this is her first political action because mining on agricultural land represents a ‘crisis’ and she is calling on all women to ‘lobby the men’.

In her International Women’s Day presentation (Sydney, 8 March 2015) she was crystal clear and emphatic in airing her thoughts and urged Australian women to lead the charge.

“Australian women always get things done,” she said.  “You know that, don’t you. Either by lobbying the men, whether they live under the same roof or they’re in the same parliament; but I think this is one of the most important rallies, and I think we’ve all got to take this message to all whom we know”.

“This is in a sense a crisis… the sale of our farmland and the destruction of our farmland must stop. And that’s my feeling and I’ve never been so emphatically political in my life,” she said.

“We’ve all got to take this message to all whom we know”.

It’s a powerful statement from someone used to carefully maintaining the neutral position.

And it’s not an uninformed view. Dame Marie knows the land. She grew up in Narrandera, 550km west of Sydney; a town today of just 4,000 people.

In her speech she also recounted a meeting with a Chinese government official which has stayed with her.

She quoted him in part as saying: “Our economy is all very well. But it has come at an enormous (environmental) cost […]  That is why we are looking to Australia, New Zealand and Southern Africa to buy up as much food producing land and to gain enough food to feed one quarter of the earth’s population”.

“I will never forget that encounter,” she said.

The crux of things

She is making two points really. The first is that farmland is an irreplaceable resource that we must protect. The second point appears to be about whether we should sell our land to foreign interests or retain control of Australia’s food production. Remember, mining may destroy relatively small parcels of land but the effects are far greater and wider ranging than this.

As Willem Vervoort, Associate Professor of Hydrology and Catchment Management at Sydney University says, the serious environmental effects of mining can extend for a very large area, way beyond the mine site.

“Mining has potentially long-term and unaddressed serious environmental impacts on groundwater, salinity and acid drainage,” he says.

“The timeframe to return land to a condition that it was in prior to mining could take 100 years or more.

“Water tables can be changed, contamination can spread and soils can be polluted.”

At Frank & Earnest, we are not against mining – in fact the reverse.  We wholly support responsible mining.  However land is irreplaceable and the contamination effect of mining does spread well beyond the actual mine site itself.

I’m with Dame Marie Bashir.  I strongly believe we should err on the side of caution with allowing mining on food producing farmland. Once it’s gone, we can’t get it back.

So… women (and men) of Australia, I would urge you to unite behind Marie Bashir and let the politicians know what you think.

Want to get organised?

Sadly there are not a lot of groups you can join at this point in time. Along the east coast the most active is Lock the Gate and you must make your own mind up if you like their message and process. We could not find a West Coast equivalent quickly. If you know one that you rate, please share it in a comment below or email details to us at editor@frankandearnest.net.au.

Do you have an opinion on mining farm land?  We always like to hear your views.

* Photo of Dame Marie Bashir by Oliver Nouther (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), via Wikimedia Commons