Like it or Not was written soon after the moment in the picture above, where Feraliza very proudly and mighty cheekily attached herself with a steel lockon pipe to a drilling rig in North Queensland. This rig was drilling to prepare for the Adani coal company's new railroad, to transport the coal they planned to dig out of the Galilee basin, an operation which is still going on today despite the ongoing protests of the local Wangan and Jagilingou people, whose native title over that land was stripped from them for the mine.
In the six weeks between this action and the court case relating to it, Feraliza was caught up in what has come to be known as the "Black Summer" of bush fires on the East Coast of Australia. Everybody was caught up in it, it was an apocalyptic event that seemed utterly inescapable. The constant choking smoke, the anxiety, looking at the maps figuring out which way was likely to be clear to travel, looking at the tank to see how much fuel is left to escape in any direction...
It came out of another beautiful sunny day in a long drought that had lasted six years and saw a good thirty percent of the forest die from lack of water. Those are just Feraliza's reckonings from looking at the forest around her home in Stanthorpe, at the time. There were certainly a lot of dead standing trees, a lot of fuel to burn. There had not been as many safe days to do controlled burns in the winter. It was too hot, it was too dry and even those burn offs that were able to happen sometimes got out of control and had to be fought.
In the six weeks between this action and the court case relating to it, Feraliza was caught up in what has come to be known as the "Black Summer" of bush fires on the East Coast of Australia. Everybody was caught up in it, it was an apocalyptic event that seemed utterly inescapable. The constant choking smoke, the anxiety, looking at the maps figuring out which way was likely to be clear to travel, looking at the tank to see how much fuel is left to escape in any direction...
It came out of another beautiful sunny day in a long drought that had lasted six years and saw a good thirty percent of the forest die from lack of water. Those are just Feraliza's reckonings from looking at the forest around her home in Stanthorpe, at the time. There were certainly a lot of dead standing trees, a lot of fuel to burn. There had not been as many safe days to do controlled burns in the winter. It was too hot, it was too dry and even those burn offs that were able to happen sometimes got out of control and had to be fought.
Over 100km/h winds and just one little spark is all it would take.
She looks at the sky, scanning for smoke. Nothing. Clear and blue. Not a cloud to be seen. Just that chilling hot wind from the West. She squints at the ridgeline to windward of the house on the north west edge of the little town.
Just not from that direction. NO fire. Not today, not in this fierce wind.
She looks at the sky, scanning for smoke. Nothing. Clear and blue. Not a cloud to be seen. Just that chilling hot wind from the West. She squints at the ridgeline to windward of the house on the north west edge of the little town.
Just not from that direction. NO fire. Not today, not in this fierce wind.
But she must have known it was coming because a five minutes later she looked again and it was there. A black mushroom cloud behind that western ridgeline. In that wind. Perhaps they can keep it on the other side of the creek? The highway? They could not.
The power goes off. We get the message on our phones all at once, standing out in the street as we watch and hear buildings start to explode on the Western side of town. ***********LEAVE NOW***********
The power goes off. We get the message on our phones all at once, standing out in the street as we watch and hear buildings start to explode on the Western side of town. ***********LEAVE NOW***********
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Our home didn't burn that night, due to a change in the wind at the last minute. Many more were not so lucky and 33 people were killed by fires during the Black Summer. 450 more died from smoke inhalation as the air refused to clear for months. Some say millions of animals were killed but nobody could have counted all the dead koalas, snakes and wombats.
This was climate change. Just a taste of what was to come.
Feraliza arrived at court, having been diverted around several more out of control fires to get there. She stood in front of the magistrate with real tears in her eyes and the smell of bushfire smoke still in her hair. She said she was sorry to the ordinary, hard working people whos lives she disrupted with her action, but that homes, jobs and lives were being lost because of the fires and the drought and those are both being worsened by climate change, according to all the world's top climate scientists.
She told him that she took this action as a last recourse, to prevent a much greater moral crime. She had already written letters, she had voted, she had signed petitions. Scientists had been saying it for fifty years and still we were digging new coal mines.
No conviction was recorded and she was given a $400 fine. This was not good enough for the government. These protests were terribly inconvenient. The premier of Queensland, Annastacia Palaszczuk and other fossil fuel lobby benefactors in the government decided to bring in new laws which made this kind of action a jailable offence. There are now people in prison in Australia for taking peaceful climate action.
Arrest, arrest the rebels! Send them Straight to Jail!
Arrest, arrest the rebels! Get them out of my way!
Turn off, turn off the fire alarm
Go back, go back to sleep
Turn off, turn off the fire alarm
Go back, go back to sleep
`~Feraliza, Like it Or Not
This version of the song was recorded by Feraliza when she got back home to Stanthorpe after her court appearance. It was a one take wonder. You can still hear the smoke in her lungs in the recording, but it only adds to the vibe. As the coal loving prime minister was stuck in a lift in Sydney because of the terribly inconvenient fire alarms triggered by the inferno bearing down upon Australia's most famous city, Feraliza sat writing a song about three different women, a mother, doctor and teacher locking themselves onto stuff to prevent climate change, in the face of increasing government crackdowns on such behavior.
They were all real people who locked on, and nowadays granny is added at the end, so there will need to be another version recorded. It is of note that this all happened before covid 19, so the lines about not enough beds in the hospitals and people struggling for oxygen were all fire or dust storm related.
The song also takes inspiration from the words of world famous youth climate activist Greta Thunberg in the third verse.
Now that the song has been put in context, have a listen to it in context of the rest of the Rock 'n' Roll for Blockin' Coal album. This compilation of songs was put together by Andy Payne of Frontline Action on Coal (FLAC). The songs are all from musicians who have been involved in the campaign to stop the Adani Mine. There are some deeply passionate souls on this album with the heartiest of hearts. All the money from sales on Bandcamp or streaming on Spotify goes to FLAC. If you are going to download it, they get more of the money if you buy it from Bandcamp
Crank it up!
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