Opinion: Green extremists talk a lot with a glass jaw

NSW Minerals Council CEO, Stephen Galilee

Green activists and extremists are happy to dish it out, but they sure can’t take it.  

Recently they set up camp out in the bush near Boggabri and ordained themselves as resistance leaders to organise against local mining operations. Despite the fact that the mining companies have all the necessary legal and environmental approvals, the activists have decided they have the divine right to protest, unfettered by the laws to which the rest of us are bound, and regardless of any risk to themselves or those around them.

On Wednesday last week more than 30 activists showed their true ‘peaceful protest’ colours, by trying to force their way into Whitehaven Coal’s office in Boggabri.  The police again had to be called when the protesters reverted to physical intimidation of Whitehaven employees.

Whitehaven Coal CEO Paul Flynn said it was “extremely regrettable” that employees were exposed to “violent intimidation and the very real risk of injury”.

The protesters mission is to shut down society to save the planet. To deny them the right to fulfil this mission is intolerance of the highest order.  And anyone daring to express a different opinion must prepare for the consequences.

In a recent opinion piece for the Daily Telegraph, I highlighted the reckless actions of those in this camp in the Leard State Forest, a forest designated the lowest zoning possible, suitable only for forestry and mining.

Using publicly available information I outlined how the call had gone out for people to gather at the camp for activist training, and how three of the protest leaders are hardcore activists with long arrest records. In a show of support, the camp has since been visited by Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon.

I called for tougher penalties for protesters who flout the law to further their extreme political agenda, especially when it jeopardises the safety of themselves, site workers and emergency service personnel who have to deal with the situation.

And I questioned why taxpayers should be forced to foot the bill for the cost of activists’ legal representation through Legal Aid and other funding sources currently available.

I stated my view that everyone had a right to protest, but it must be within the laws that govern all of us.

And what was the response from the extreme green fraternity?

The river of bile spat through social media was astounding.  Four letter personal insults flowed freely across cyberspace.  Little attempt was made to respond to the issues raised, with most preferring to suggest I violate myself, and other free character assessments of a very personal nature!

Margo Kingston, one of the dinosaurs of left-wing ‘hate journalism’ associated my opinion with ‘jackboots’, an icon of Nazism.

I was even informed that representatives for Jonathan Moylan demanded the online version of the opinion piece be taken down.  

I really didn’t expect anything different. This is the measure of extreme green tolerance. Give us our voice, but all others must stay silent.

Sorry, but the rest of us have a right to be heard too.  You can protest, but do it within the laws that are there to protect yourself and others. If you choose to ignore the law, the rest of us will have a problem with it. And while we may be the silent majority, when we do speak up we will not be bullied into silence.

At the last Federal Election, the Greens vote fell from 12 per cent to 9 per cent, a 25 per cent drop in support. One in every four of their voters abandoned them. This follows on from the ACT election disaster, which saw the Party reduced from four seats to one in the Territory’s parliament.

The Greens and their extreme supporters don’t seem to understand that the public is growing increasingly tired of their double-standards, their overblown claims, their self-righteous claim to the moral high ground, and their continued disregard for the laws that govern the rest of us.