Stop Adani! - Paint Melbourne Ports

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This afternoon I met with a group of Stop Adani protestors beneath those giant jaws beloved by generations of  Melbournians.

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This choice of meeting place had a pleasing synchronicity. Just as the heritage fun park's aim is to preserve Luna Park for future generations - Just for Fun for years to come, protestors against Adani's land grab are determined to protect the Reef and the Galilee Basin for future Australians. And with a bit of luck (and a mighty fight) hopefully the last laugh will be ours!

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You might well be wondering: What has Melbourne Ports electorate got to do with Adani? Why stage an action there? Apart from the fact that protestors got to spend an afternoon in one of the most beautiful, hippest parts of town, there is another compelling reason.

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 Melbourne Ports, which covers the suburbs of Port Melbourne, South Melbourne, Middle Park, South Yarra, St Kilda, Balaclava, Elwood and parts of Elsternwick and Caulfield is a key electorate in the upcoming Federal election. The seat is the most marginal in the country, won by Labor in 2016 with a miniscule 1.3% and on the basis of Greens preferences. And as candidates are already desperately vying for votes in the run up to the next election, they are hopefully at their most receptive to voter influence.  So Melbourne Ports seemed particularly fertile ground over which to strew Stop Adani posters, while talking to as many locals as possible along the way.

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One challenge for anti-Adani strategists is that the actual site of the struggle - western Queensland - can feel like a world away from home for the majority of Australians. And although most people are distressed about the Reef, it can feel like there is little you can do from a distance. That is why to win this battle Australians everywhere need to see the future of the reef as their business. And the battle to save it as winnable.

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Electorally, this means that politicians in Albany or Davenport, in Robe or Broome, just like those in Melbourne Ports, need to be getting a strong message from voters that opposing Adani's hubris is of critical importance. It is on a par or even outstrips local issues, and citizens need to demand that their politicians take a stand that reflects this.

It might warm the heart momentarily to hear that, personally, increasing numbers of politicians feel opposed to the Adani mine. But we need more from them than weasel words, and the time for equivocation is well and truly past. Politicians need to commit to fighting for their convictions - just like we are.

#StopAdani  #BlockadeAdani  #FossilFree