Climate Change Campaigner Shot at With Slug Gun

The following is an update on the progress of environmental activists involved in walking the length of the North Island to protest coal mining in Aotearoa, written by Heather Simpson.

On Friday we visited Massey University in Palmerston North to expose government greenwash and stir up some action among the student population, who we have heard havn't been up to much activism lately. You will find a picture attatched of myself, painted green from head to toe, emlazoned with "Expose Greenwash" and wearing nout but a pair of very short shorts. I am standing in front of our banner which reads "No Coal, Mining, Burning & Trading" and a washing line covered in the government's most filthy laundry sporting slogans like "Clean Coal" "Happy Valley" "Pyke River" and "Clean Green NZ".

Links: WalktheWalk Blog | Walk the Walk | Save Happy Valley

I let rip for about an hour on the megaphone about the hypocracy of our government regarding Climate Change and our environment, and persuaded students to take off their shoes, dip their feet in green paint and put a footprint on a banner saying "Stop Greenwash, No Coal, Massey University Students, Palmerston North". Each footprint is signed, and we will be bringing this to Parliament when we hit Wellington on the 27th-30th March. We also had the chip wagon parked nearby pumping some chilled out, revolutionary music with it's eco-friendly chip powered spare battery.

That night there were some hostilities, and although I'm not sure they were directed at our cause, they were definitely directed at me. I was busking across the road from where we had been camping in the square, playing Bob Marley's Redemption Song, when a black car drove past containing 4 young men with shaved heads, dressed in camoflage. I saw one of them lean out the rear passenger side window and point a gun at me, while looking me straight in the eye. I didn't know if he was just trying to freak me out but when he pulled the trigger I moved my head to the side and a slug gun pellet brushed past my ear and made a dent in the wall behind me. So, it wasn't a real gun but it could have done some real damage where he was aiming it, at my eyes! Lucky I dodged it because he was a crack shot. I must remember that not everybody loves peaceful hippy chicks with natty dreadlocks.

The following night, we made it about 12 k out of Palmy to a beautiful lookout point atop a hill beset with a forest of wind turbines. From our camp we could see both Mt Ruapehu and Mt Taranaki, and Palmerston North spread out in front of us looked like a fairy city by night.

Apart from the idyllic location however, all was not peachy. We saw a white ute drive into the turn around we were camping near about three times in the evening, checking us out, but not stopping to talk. They were young guys, looking drunk as skunks. It wasn't until 5am when we were all in bed that they had the guts to approach, and when they did it was to sneakily steal our "climate camp, Haere Mai" banner and hoon off cackling like hyena's when Mick heard a disturbance and leapt up, telling them "You leave that there!"

So if anybody sees this banner being hung up anywhere, please return it to us, care of state highway one.

Related

http://www.walkingthewalk.org.nz/