CSG mining company Metgasco now throwing Githabul elders off their own land?

Officials close the Eden Creek State Forest
adjoining the Doubtful Creek coal seam gas drilling site yesterday afternoon

In order to assist Metgasco Limited in its battle with Northern Rivers protestors, officials have closed Eden Creek State Forest.

Therefore Metgasco needs to explain why an elder apparently in the forest as part of his cultural duties and obligations found himself in the middle of this incident reported in The Daily Examiner on 6 February 2013:

Earlier, two Githabul elders were arrested in two separate incidences while police secured the site.

Witnesses said one of the men was conducting a Githabul initiation ceremony when he was arrested within the Eden Creek State Forest for allegedly spitting.

Eden Creek State Forest was handed back to the Githabul people under the Native Title Act in 2007.
 

Northern Rivers Talking Turkey 31 January 2013

UPDATE:

The Echo Net Daily 6 February 2013.

NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) volunteers will no longer feed police at an anti-coal-seam gas (CSG) protest at Doubtful Creek near Kyogle after an outcry from local firies opposed to CSG.

The 'alleged' defamation that NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell is now trying to spin

 

Premier O'Farrell appears to believe that saying "alleged" absolved him of all blame in this report by ABC News 2 February 2013:

 

Mr McCardle is demanding an apology from Mr O'Farrell and says his client will take him to court for defamation if he does not.

But Mr O'Farrell says he does not see any need to apologise.

"I hasten to explain to Mr McCardle, who is a lawyer, that I did use the word allegations," he told Macquarie Radio.

"I didn't prejudge the allegations."

 

The Premier’s original statements

 

Snapshot from The National Times article Thomson's lawyer demands O'Farrell withdraw comments 1 February 2013:

 

 

"I think Mr Thomson and his lawyer need to calm down a bit - after all, the allegations surrounding Craig Thomson is that he was all too ready to take his clothes off in front of strangers in exchange for money."

 

And at 4.17 minutes into this YouTube video when he had to quickly bite his tongue just before "in front of strangers" in an effort to avoid mention of money:

 

 

http://youtu.be/8Gj6trSfuo0

 

O'Farrell has been very silent since NSW Police had to admit that its statment to the media concerning the need to publicly arrest Federal Independent MP Craig Thomson at his electoral office had been incorrect.

 

Yamba versus McDonalds revisited

[Tiley, Dr. Ian (2012) Divided We Fall: An Insider’s Perspective on Local Government Amalgamations]

Click on image to enlarge text

The Nannas gently chide Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis over his tacit support of coal seam gas mining

Clarence Valley Review 30 January 2013

The body language is telling. NSW Nationals MP for Clarence, Chris Gulaptis, is obviously not comfortable with the message. Which is unfortunate.

Given that the alleged $1.4 billion in direct expenditure Metgasco claims it will be contributing to the Northern Rivers economy over 20 years pales in comparison with the more than $1 billion tourism contributes each year to the region and, an initial 1,000 well wide gas field will inevitably have a negative impact on this section of the regional economy.