The Ride
Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) Sandmining Cycle was organised by a coalition of local, state and national organisations called the Minjerribah Action Coalition. The ride was from Kurilpa Park, South Brisbane via the ACI glass factory to South Brisbane train station, train to Cleveland, barge to Dunwich then ride to Point Lookout and return, looking at some sand mining sites on the way. The intent of the cycle was to increase public awareness of, in their words, "the ecologically devastating effects of sand mining" on the island, and to encourage people to get involved in the campaign "to implement a planned cessation of sand mining [that would] maintain the long term environmental, cultural, social and economic integrity of Minjerribah".
We met at Kurilpa Park to swap our money or prepaid tickets for arm bands and Minjerribah Sandmining Cycle t-shirts and to hear Barry Brown, a Wilderness Society organiser, and Rob Anderson from ATSIC, talk about the ride and the campaign. The t-shirts had "Sandmining sucks - the life out of Straddie" on the back and a picture circle of the route we were about to follow on the front. I liked the design (Sal, a local artist) and the fact that many of the shirts were second hand rather than new.
Barry described the destructiveness of sand mining to Minjerribah and described some of the products we consume which drive the demand for sand mining - glass, aerospace technology and white paint were the main examples - and called for any researchers among us to research alternatives. I particularly appreciated this as too often in reactive, issue-driven campaigns, not enough thought is given to the causes underlying the symptoms.
I can't remember much of what Rob told us except that Myora Springs water is very good and we should stop and fill our water bottles at this sacred and special spot. He also emphasised how pleased he was that whites and Murrays were working together which made me feel good as I still feel woefully separate from the Aboriginal peoples we have dispossessed and continue to treat so badly. He then handed out "Walking Together" badges from the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation which most of us pinned to our new t-shirts as we prepared to begin the cycle.
We rode off in a loose group with a lone motorcycle police officer as escort bringing up the rear. Our route took us past the ACI glass factory in South Brisbane where we paused to see, first hand, where some of the sand goes and the pollution created as a result. We took the train from South Brisbane to Cleveland, then the barge to Dunwich where we sat under a tree to hear more information and eat some of a seemingly endless supply of oranges and energy balls made by one of the organisers (good on you Louis!). It was also suggested that the less informed among us should talk to the more informed during the ride to fill in the gaps in our knowledge which seemed a sensible idea, both saving time and encouraging us to meet each other.
We set off from Dunwich as a group of about forty cyclists of all levels of fitness, to ride the 20 kms to Point Lookout. Luckily we had a support van carrying our packs, filtered water, oranges, energy balls, Barbara, Barry and ??? the driver. Aaah, the luxury of good organisation! After doing a loop through one of the sand mining companies' premises, we rode out of town to discover fresh air! Being used to riding around stinky, car-choked Brisbane, it was a shock to be riding around a beautiful island surrounded by soul-soothing trees with delicious, flower-scented air that you could breathe. What a contrast!
The ride from Dunwich to Point Lookout was fun and punctuated with frequent rest stops to eat, drink and catch up. We stopped, as Rob suggested, at My6ora Springs and the water was sparkling fresh and clean (another contrast to Brisbane River!). The ride was very enjoyable and did give us a chance to see a little bit of the impact of the mining companies, but mostly just showed us what a spectacularly beautiful and precious island Minjerribah is. Inspiring!
The main ride ended at Point Lookout where we rested one last time before splitting up to go swimming, walking the cliffs and then meeting back at Bimbimby restaurant and gallery for a meal and some live music. Most rode back to Dunwich to catch the barge home, a few of us slept on the beach and about five of us slept on a friend's verandah in the moonlight and rode back the next day after beaching and cliffing it a bit more.
Some thoughts
My reasons for going on the cycle were primarily as an excuse to visit Minjerribah, ride, swim, catch up with friends and meet the caring sort of people who I knew would be participating in the event rather than get heavily involved in the campaign. I was also happy to use the opportunity to get more informed about an issue which is at least partly local to me, to show my support for the people more directly involved and to have fun in the process. From this perspective, I enjoyed the ride immensely and was very impressed with its organisation. However, I couldn't help noticing a few things
I thought it would have been good to have introduced us to the police officer escorting us and to have tried to include him in the explanations of the event to promote more friendly, personal and human relations with police. It would also have been a good opportunity to spread understanding and sympathy for the issue to parts of society who are often unreceptive due to media polarisation, cultural stereotyping and the often less than friendly attitudes and behaviour shown by participants. While often understandable, I believe unfriendly behaviour towards police to be counterproductive to goals of making police - since at present they are a fact of life - serve their community in more friendly and appropriate ways.
I thought there was a weakness in researching and informing people of the implications of the already planned phase-out of sand mining over the next fifteen years, and especially of the economic situation - effects on the local economy and the people dependent on mining, and alternatives to sand mining in the first place.
If we're serious about alternatives, I feel our best bet is to radically alter our lifestyles to minimise resource consumption (especially non-renewable resources such as sand and the special places they are a part of) and live a far more locally self-reliant lifestyle (eg. permaculture). This would break our dependence on big business and government and go a long way towards solving most of our social and environmental problems (imagine no more multinational corporations)!
I also noticed myself and a few others feeling uncomfortable wearing the t-shirts with "Sandmining Sucks" on the back - feeling pulled between solidarity with our fellow cyclists and discomfort at confronting the locals while not being informed enough about the issues surrounding the sand mining upon which so many of them depend. This seemed lacking in respect and reminded me of my strong need to be permanently settled somewhere so as to have a sense of place; of physical, spiritual and social connections and support, to have local knowledge, concern and responsibility, and the time to be properly informed and meet with different groups of concerned people to talk out your differences and common ground. This I feel is hard to do, especially in our culture of high mobility and transience which contributes to our alienation from any place and community which might support us.
Overall, I thought the ride was really well done. I hope the rest of the campaign goes as well or better and succeeds in protecting the rest of Minjerribah. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who contributed to such an enjoyable event.
Thanks also to Jan McNicol for suggesting I write about it and for reminding me to include my feelings.
Have fun,
Tom Driftwood
If you are interested in the campaign, the contacts are:
Tom Widdup, GU Environment Officer (07) 3875 7227
UQ Environment Collective (07) 3377 2255
Barry Brown, The Wilderness Society (07) 3229 4533
Ann Ferguson, Queensland Conservation Council (07) 3221 0188
Aaron Wise, Queensland Greens (07) 3217 6233