Polyester Records

https://tinyurl.com/y5nqk4oj

🚨🚨🚨 𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗬 𝗥𝗘𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗝𝗔𝗕 𝗪𝗨𝗥𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗔𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗦 𝗖𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗔𝗜𝗚𝗡 - 𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗗𝗨𝗟𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗪𝗘𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝟮𝟭𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧 🚨🚨🚨

Polyester Records stands in solidarity with the Djab Wurrung and all First Nations peoples in their ongoing resistance towards the use without consent of, the colonisation of, and desecration of their sacred lands. Now is a crucial time for the ongoing battle for preserving the Djab Wurrung trees. In short, there are 3000 trees, of which 250 have been deemed sacred or culturally significant, set for demolition to build a highway that will save drivers THREE MINUTES of travel time¹.

This conflict encapsulates so many issues with how the Victorian government deals with issues around Indigenous Sovereignty, and issues of climate and environment more broadly. The Andrews government has expressed that they are “committed to working with Aboriginal [people] towards Australia’s first treaty”², and positioned themselves as a government interested in repairing fractured relationships with Aboriginal communities across the state. This action is completely contrary to this - there has been a massive ongoing, vocal and united voice of the Djab Wurrung people and other Aboriginal peoples pleading and fighting to preserve the trees, and have the highway redirected. Former Greens MP and Gunnai-Kurnai Gunditjmara woman Lidia Thorpe, who has been an ongoing voice on the issue, has stated that this is reflective of shoddy planning by VicRoads, and that there are safe and quick alternatives that do not involve the desecration of sacred cultural lands³.

There are immediate and meaningful cultural and environmental consequences of the loss of close to 3,000 trees, some hundreds of years old. The trees of this land are tremendous carbon sinks, currently storing “solid carbon equivalent to almost 38.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which is about 70 times the country’s annual net greenhouse gas emissions”⁴. Any action plan to combat climate change needs to factor in protecting and planting trees. First Nations peoples have millennia of cultural knowledge on how to care for and manage the land and both their wisdom and autonomy is both being wilfully ignored here. The way First Nations people have been practicing their custodianship of the land is sustainable and governed by thousands of years of knowledge passed down through generations. This wisdom is priceless in the fight against climate change. It is always important, but particularly so right now, to pay attention to the will and judgment of First Nation peoples.

“[𝑆𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑠] 𝑐𝑎𝑛’𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠’ 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠. 𝑇𝑜 𝑠𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑑, 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒’𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 … 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 … 𝑝𝑜𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡. 𝐼𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑑.” - Nayuka Gorrie, a Kurnai/Gunai, Gunditjmara, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta freelance writer

Traditional custodians (the Djab Wurrung people) and those in solidarity with them are set to be evicted from the site on Wednesday the 21st of August. 𝙒𝙚 𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙚𝙡𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨:

1) 𝑮𝑬𝑻 𝑻𝑶 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑰𝑻𝑬 𝑰𝑴𝑴𝑬𝑫𝑰𝑨𝑻𝑬𝑳𝒀

The most urgently needed thing is more people present to support the blockade, and protect the Djab Wurrung Heritage Protection Embassy from police who are expected to arrive on Wednesday 21st August. If there is enough of a human presence there, the police will not be able to evict the protestors and the works will have to be postponed, again. All people who want to stand in solidarity with the Djab Wurrung people are strongly encouraged to attend, and the contingent at the camp is a diverse group of people from all walks of life, ages, and backgrounds.

For location, directions to the site, and further details visit: https://dwembassy.com/come-to-camp/

The site is located approximately 2 hours west of Melbourne via car.

When you are there: document police presence, interactions, and any evidence of destruction. Tweet, share and post as much as possible. Tell your friends and family about it, and urge them to join you.

2) 𝑹𝑬𝑮𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑶𝑼𝑻𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑬 𝑩𝒀 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑹𝑬𝑳𝑬𝑽𝑨𝑵𝑻 𝑴𝑷𝒔

If you are not able to attend in person, the next best thing you can do is to contact relevant MPs to voice your concerns and disapproval of the project.

Calling an MP’s office if you haven’t before can feel intimidating. It is important to remember that hearing from voting citizens is an MP’s responsibility. They are obligated to listen to your concerns - it is literally their job, and you are exercising your right as a member of a democracy to communicate with them! If you phone the below numbers, you will likely speak to an administrator who you can register your concerns with, or you may be asked to leave a message. Be brief and clear - you don’t have to provide evidence or do anything more than register your concern. You may say something like:

“𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑦’𝑠 𝑊𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝐷𝑗𝑎𝑏 𝑊𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠. 𝐼 𝑜𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡’𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠’ 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑑.”

Further scripts, contacts, and email templates can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-GTkdfwZDfvW26yvRuOMmx4p4hM73Im5dxk-GMElSJI/edit?usp=sharing

The three most important offices to call are as follows - we’d recommend calling all three, it only takes a few minutes and can make a huge difference.

𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒆𝒓: 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐬
[email protected]
Phone: (03) 9651 5000
𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓: 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐖𝐲𝐧𝐧𝐞
[email protected]
Phone: (03) 9415 8901
𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓: 𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗮 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻
[email protected]
Phone: (03) 8392 6100

If there are enough voices expressing concern and registering protest against the project, it is extremely possible that the Victorian government will not want to upset too many of its constituents and will plan an alternative route that will not involve the desecration of sacred sites.

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So many forms of music we all know and love were forged in political contexts around resistance and fighting for marginalised voices. This is a pivotal opportunity for us to come together as a community and create change for the better. Please like, share, tag your friends, ask questions, attend camp and call your ministers. Let’s fight this battle together.

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1 - https://dwembassy.com/why-we-are-here/
2 - https://w.www.vic.gov.au/aboriginalvictoria/treaty.html
3 - https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2018/06/18/removal-sacred-djap-wurrung-trees-act-cultural-terrorism
4 - https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2019/july/1561989600/sophie-cunningham/djab-wurrung-birthing-tree