'A Mighty Force' Nation-wide Premiere

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Yesterday, from Alice Springs to Adelaide, from Yarragon to the Whitsundays, in small country halls, people's homes and grand city centres there was a film premiere. 'A Mighty Force' is a celebration of people power. It features a range of activists determined to stop Adani's grab of our precious countryside and decimation of the Great Barrier Reef.  I was lucky enough to attend a premiere, hosted by Stop Adani Melbourne, at the glorious Fitzroy Town Hall, which was packed to the rafters for the occasion.

Settling in

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Setting up

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The film was great. Coincidentally several of the activists featured had also spoken at the Fitzroy Town Hall as part of the 'Stop Adani Summit' last October. Here are some pictures I took of them at that event:

Aunty Carol Prior, Juru traditional owner from Queensland, with Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black, interfaith Adani opponent (right)

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Bruce and Annette Currie, Central Queensland farmers and reluctant activists, who live mere metres from the mine.

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Jageer Singh, high school student with first-hand experience of Adani's rapacity in India, who has catalyzed protests within his Hopper's Crossing school. 

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The Q & A after the film proved enlightening and inspiring:

I learned that last year 160 new community groups were formed across Australia to oppose Adani, and there are high hopes that the number will be even greater this year. One of the groups that I really enjoyed hearing about was Crochet for Coral Not Coal. This Eltham-based group crochet a range of pieces of 'coral'. They distribute them free of charge to opponents of the mine along with a list of addresses of Federal MPs to whom the recipients can appeal. I'll be sorry to part with mine!:

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Queensland sometimes feels so far away. And the tyranny of distance makes it hard to believe that Victorians can have any impact on the crucial fight being waged up north. But I was most encouraged last night to realize there is lots that we can do:

Start planning to join the blockade.  People from all over Australia are taking time off work and out of busy lives to travel to the Galilea Basin for longer or shorter stays to support local protestors. One audience member announced last night that he was heading off next week with five other senior Victorians - Grey Power in the Galilea - to join Front Line Action on Coal (FLAC). And another older person, Audrey, shown in the film blithely locked on via her neck to a mining vehicle, was also at last night's film. Her assertion that she was no hero, just an 'ordinary grandma', was very moving.

Join local StopAdani group. 

Attend with friends and family, or even host, a showing of 'A Mighty Force'.  Although we had a chandelier at our screening, be reassured, it is not de rigueur!

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Join other local residents who have made a pact to knock on 8,000 doors in Batman.  With Bill Shorten saying this week that Adani is 'just another project', that there is 'a role for coal' in Australia, it is apparent that Federal Labor is no ally.  A win for Alex Bhathal in Batman would send a strong message to Labor and ensure that there is another champion for the environment in a position of power. It is crucial that we elect more MPs who are prepared to work to tighten up our weak environmental protection laws. And to Stop Adani.