Through February and March 2014 dozens of ANZ billboards across Sydney were vandalised and numerous ANZ bank facades were painted with slogans denouncing Whitehaven coal and the destruction of Leard state forest while their ATM card slots were glued shut. During the Mardi Gras festivities numerous ANZ “GAYTM’s” were vandalised with paint and in the days following the parade two of the pinkwashed machines on Oxford St were smashed with a metal bar.
ANZ is the primary investor in the Whitehaven coal project, which is currently devastating the once pristine forests in Mauls Creek. Whitehaven is in deep financial straits and is only being propped up on ANZ loans. By specifically and intensively targeting ANZ for their support for this project across the country we can force them to review the profitability of their investment.
We wish solidarity and strength to all those at the Leard blockade, but we hope to remind them that the struggle against eco destruction should not be stymied and restricted by the terms of environmental NGO’s and their media strategies. Effective resistance incorporates all modes of struggle, from letter writing and street protests, to lock-on’s and sabotage.
While we’ve heard sloganeering about “NVDA (non-violent direct action)” preached like scripture at blockades, we must ask, which is more violent, the massive deforestation of native forests or a few burning bulldozers.
