I live in a small coastal town in Northern NSW. An area fiercely opposed to coal seam gas with strong campaigns such as the “lock the gate” signs you see dotted all through the hinterland here and the topic always hot on people’s lips – and I’m a DIDO wife.
In my local supermarket the other day I bumped into my favourite local 60-something year old, long haired, woodstockish couple that live just down the road, the ones who man the anti-coal seam gas stall at the local markets and write weekly into the local rag to wax lyrical on all topics political – “Hey Emma, How’ve you been? We haven’t seen Jarrod around much lately” to which I reply – “we’re great! He’s been working away…” – “oh, what is he doing?” – there’s an uncomfortable pause where I dither over what to say – I’m not going to lie, but then I find myself replying with excuses – “you know, he was struggling to find work, and a friend got him into the mines, it’s only a short term thing….” blah blah” and there it is – the moral dilemma of being connected to something that you don’t necessarily agree with.
I’m not an activist nor a campaigner but I do like to consider myself somewhat green, and truth be told, gas mining on some huge cattle station in the back of Queensland in the middle of nowhere I can get on with, but do I want it happening in my own backyard? The answer is no. We moved to this area from the hustle and bustle of Sydney 10 years ago and it is literally paradise, but the downfall has always been the lack of job opportunities. Which is fine when you are young and free and play the “we don’t care about money, its all about lifestyle” game, but then you start a family, and the game changes. All of a sudden you start thinking about good schools, and uniforms, and family holidays, and what if they get sick? That’s right, you start thinking about “THE FUTURE”, that scarily oppressive term we used think was not for us, the “yeah, we live in the moment man!” is no longer, and I actually like it! I’ve started dreaming about a little house, with a dog, on a pretty block of land with a fig tree…right in the heart of the “lock the gate” campaign area…
And so for us being able to support a family and bring them up in paradise trumps our green leanings but doesn’t leave me feeling any less guilty at the moral contradiction – I will probably sign the petition to keep coal seam gas out of the Northern Rivers but kiss my husband goodbye next week with a “bring home the Benjamin’s, baby!”.
Written by Emma McLaughlin
21st June, 2013
Emma McLaughlin is a DIDO wife, mother of a one year old, student and blog host at
www.chamomileandpeppermint.blogspot.com.au
