Police fear clash of greenies, fishermen
THE casual observer yesterday might have mistaken the anti- Adani protesters’ camp south of Bowen for a school picnic getaway in the bush.
Children played in a paddock bordered by tents while adults mingled and newcomers signed in at a kiosk.
Dead timber lay in a pile, no doubt for a bonfire that would have been lit last night. The setting was tranquil.
Here at anti- Adani HQ, where protesters are gathering to fight the construction of the $ 22 billion Carmichael coal mine, was the Australiana ensemble of requisite gum trees, screeching cockatoos, dry scrub and a rough bush track winding back to the Bruce Highway 4km to the east.
It was a scene that could have been inscribed in drab colours to a souvenir tea towel.
Bowen was buzzing, but it had nothing to do with the anti- Adani mine protest scheduled to take place over the next six days.
The annual Bowen Family Fishing Classic, with a $ 30,000 boat and other prizes up for grabs, has drawn hundreds of competitors, many of them party- hard miners driving trayback 4WD utes to the town to try their luck.
It is this potentially toxic brew of pro- mining versus anti- mining sentiment over the same weekend that has authorities on red alert.
District Inspector Steve O’Connell from the Mackay Police District said extra police had been sent in and were ready to respond to any “negative interaction involving fishermen and protesters”.
“Violence will not be tolerated from either side,” he said.
“We acknowledge the right of protesters to protest as long as it is done peacefully and there are no breaches of the peace. People on both sides have the right to express their point of view as long as they do it peacefully.”
Bowen resident and protest spokeswoman Elvyn Smith said her “people” had met with police and “talked things out”.
She said 150 people were expected to arrive for the protest, which officially starts tomorrow night at Queens Beach.
“We are not having it at Santa Barbara Pde ( Bowen’s front beach), because of the fishing classic. There might still be people there from the classic so we thought it best to avoid the possibility of a clash and go to Queens Beach,” she said.
Businesswoman Tracey Bazzo wants the protesters out.
She has anti- protester signs saying “Get A Real Job” and “Stop Adani Over My Dead Body” on display in her shop.
“I want to see Adani go ahead,” she said. “I love this town. I’ve seen the tears, the suicides, the bankruptcies. Unless you have lived here, you don’t know how terrible it has been. I was born in Childers, but if I could I’d change my birth certificate to say I was born in Bowen.”