"We've woken up the surfers. We're at the
forefront, we surf everyday, we're at the coast. We see the
changes."
Damien Cole, Victorian surfer and son of designer-shaper
Maurice Cole has been the main man when it comes to organising the
David and Goliath battle against Norwegian energy company Equinor’s
proposal to deepwater drill for hydrocarbons in the Great
Australian Bight.
Cole was the chief architect of the Australia wide mass
paddle-outs on November 23 last year and played a pivotal role
pressuring political parties by running for the Victorian seat of
Corangimite in the 2018 state elections.
A monstrous ordeal that involved copious blood, sweat and tears
is how Cole described the fight for the Bight.
I copped a bollocking (correctly) below the line from Maurice
Cole in my reportage of the Byron Bay paddle-out for failing to
emphasise that Equinor had no social licence to drill in the
Bight.
It seems that paddle-out pressure from the community,
effectively robbing Equinor of the social licence to extract
resources from the Bight, played a key role in their backdown from
drilling proposal yesterday.
Damo Cole was in a buoyant mood when I spoke to him minutes ago
about the Equinor backdown and the future implications for the
Bight and more generally.
LT: The paddle-outs were in November and the NOPSEMA
greenlight came just before Christmas, did you see this pullout
from Equinor coming?
DC: Nah, I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t see it coming at all. I
and a lot of people I spoke to around the country felt very
deflated in December when they got the approval just before
Christmas, so this decision came as a complete shock. I still can’t
believe it.
LT: They’ve said the economics don’t stack up. What role
do you think the community pressure from the protests played in
their decision?
DC: I think it played a vital role in them pulling out. It’s
obvious they’ve felt the pressure but they didn’t want to lose
face: if they do state that it was because of public pressure then
their showing a chink in their armour. You don’t push for a project
for two years and then suddenly turn around and do the books. These
companies do the books way beforehand. They know the risks, they
know the costs. As they said themselves, they’ve been doing it for
years and they know it all. I think it all got too much with the
Wilderness Society taking them to court, with the pressure
Surfrider put on and all the communities all around the country
standing up. That was all really pivotal in them pulling out.
LT: It doesn’t sound like the politicians involved, like
Keith Pitt, have acknowledged community sentiment, the lack of
social licence for Equinor. Where does that leave us now, with
respect to the political situation?
DC: It’s a really interesting point. While this has been an
incredible win for Australia, for our communities, for our Oceans,
the fight for the Bight is not over yet. It won’t be over until we
have permanent protection for the Great Australian Bight under a
World Heritage Status. That’s what we’re going for next. That’s
where the Government will have to step in and reflect our wants and
needs. They’ve been elected to represent the Australian people and
this is what the overwhelming majority want. It’s up to the
communities to keep pushing but we’re looking at our governments
and demanding protection.
LT: Does this signify a larger shift in public sentiment
away from fossil fuels in Australia?
DC: Absolutely. This whole campaign has demonstrated that. Our
Government has tried to paint this picture of radical activists
being responsible for the protests. I’ve been to twelve or thirteen
of these paddle-outs, I didn’t meet one radical activist. These are
everyday people at our coastal communities. This could be a real
shift and it could be a moment in history, a real turning point for
Australia. We have the opportunity and the power, as the people in
our communities, to drive that.
LT: What were you doing yesterday when you found
out?
DC: I’m down in Tassie with my Mum, I was driving and my media
manager from the Fight for the Bight campaign was calling me. When
I called him back and he told me the news, I had to pull over and
started shaking. Mum said, “I’ll drive” and I just broke down into
tears. I called a few people and then I’d promised I’d take Mum to
the movies so I switched my phone off and went to the movies
(laughs). I’ve been speaking to all the community leaders, there’s
elation all over the country. Finally some good news.
LT: Does this mark a new era in surfers being listened
to as an Environmental voice?
DC: Yeah, I definitely think so. We’ve woken up the surfers.
We’re the canaries in the coalmine really. We’re at the forefront,
we surf everyday, we’re at the coast. We see the changes. Now that
we’ve seen what we can achieve I daresay this is the beginning of a
new era of putting our environment and our planet higher up the
priority list and realising we have got the power to do great
things and make some positive changes. That’s the feeling I’ve got
from everyone I’ve spoken to over the last 24 hours: there’s hope
again.
LT: Anything else you want to bring to the public’s
attention?
DC: Yeah, I just want to reiterate this fight is not over. We’ll
be moving on. We’ll be putting on some big events with Surfrider
Foundation between now and April. We’re gunna push for World
Heritage Status, we want this permanent. We don’t want to have to
fight this fight again. It’s been a big win and the end is in sight
but we got to keep pushing.
