BY ROBIN TAUBENFELD
BRISBANE — Police have suggested that the wheels are "now in motion" to close down the Narangba protest camp. The protest camp, which has maintained a 24-hour peaceful vigil opposite the proposed Steritech nuclear irradiation facility since June last year, sits on state land within the Narangba Industrial Estate.
The state Department of State Development had agreed to allow the camp to be set up at its current location after police removed the camp from its original location on the Steritech site.
Now, it appears that the department is bowing down to company pressure to remove the camp. Protest action in early January culminated in a full-day occupation of the irradiation chamber of the now under-construction plant. Considered a great success by organisers, the action was an embarrassment to the company and to its security organisation, which allowed protesters to enter the site.
In following days, Steritech employees, lashing out in anger have assaulted several protesters and destroyed community protest artwork outside the Steritech site and around the protest camp while police have turned a blind eye.
It is not surprising that the police are ready to do the dirty work of the company and state government by closing the camp — they have been doing it all along. Their behaviour to date has been consistently pro-Steritech. Protesters have seen police fail to respond to complaints of assault and ignore assaults against protesters in their presence, fail to aid injured people, deny protesters water, and even grope a female protester's breasts.
The state Labor government was elected on a platform stating clearly that "Labor will prohibit the establishment of nuclear irradiation facilities". When elected, it sold state land for the plant.
Organisers believe that the threats of camp closure serve to boost the community's determination to win the campaign.
The irony is that the camp is doing what the government is failing to do. The camp represents a diverse community actively attempting to protect itself — and all Australians — from an unhealthy, toxic industry. The principles driving the camp are peace and social justice and care for the environment, the wider community and future generations.
Protesters intend to maintain their vigil at the site until the plant is closed.
[Robin Taubenfeld is a spokesperson for EnuFF (Everyone for a Nuclear Free Future).]
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, January 15, 2003.
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