Culture

David Pocock Passionately Defends His Actions After Being ‘Disciplined’ For Protesting

"Peaceful direct actions raised serious questions about a huge variety of inequalities – pointing to the now obvious fact that those situations were deeply unfair and needed to be changed."

by Alex McKinnon  2 December 2014

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[UPDATE: February 4, 2015]

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On Sunday November 30, Australian rugby player David Pocock was arrested for locking himself to a super digger to protest clearing in the Leard State Forest. The protest quickly gained a lot of attention, and yesterday Australian Rugby Union announced that it had issued a “formal written warning” to Pocock to discourage him from similar actions in the future.

“While we appreciate David has personal views on a range of matters, we’ve made it clear that we expect his priority to be ensuring he can fulfil his role as a high-performance athlete,” the ARU said in a statement.

Pocock has released a lengthy statement in response to the attention his protest has received in which he defends his motivations and highlights the importance of non-violent direct action in challenging unjust situations. It ain’t half bad.

“My parents were always clear with my brothers and I when we were growing up that you have to have the courage of your convictions and that when you commit to something you must fully commit. That’s why, this weekend I travelled to the Leard Blockade to meet with farmers, activists and fellow Canberrans who are deeply concerned about the expansion of the Maules Creek Mine in the Leard State Forest.

“A group of us decided to take part in an action that would disable a super digger while we occupied it and raise awareness about the plight of the Maules Creek community, the Leard State Forest, the local Gamilaroi whose country and sacred sites are being destroyed, and all of us who are beginning to suffer the impacts of climate change.

“…All of us…are faced with the reality that we have governments and big business who often leave the fate of family farmers or the world’s poor out of the debate. Here in Australia we are faced with retreat from action on climate change and a clear commitment from our government to expand the fossil fuel industry – with plans to double our coal production. How can we possibly try to prevent catastrophic climate change while opening new coal mines?…And what can we possibly do about it?

“These questions tend to leave many people feeling overwhelmed and like there are simply no solutions. But all over the world we can look to examples of problems that have been solved by groups of dedicated citizens. In India, the salt marches. In the United States, lunch counter sit-ins. In Argentina, workplace occupations. And in Australia, the Gurindji strike and the Moree freedom rides.

“These peaceful direct actions raised serious questions about a huge variety of inequalities – pointing to the now obvious fact that those situations were deeply unfair and needed to be changed. In many cases activists did things which were illegal – but this civil disobedience was often what shifted public debate on issues and allowed the depth of inequality to be made visible.

“…After a very long day, after being arrested and processed, the constable looked at me sternly and said, ‘You don’t want to continue down this road. The ramifications are simply not worth it.’

“I understood his warning but couldn’t help but think that his words were a perfect summary of the situation we collectively find ourselves in; scientists the world over are urging us to act on climate change – to leave coal in the ground and focus on renewables. Farmers like Rick Laird are fighting for the future of their farmlands. If I ask myself the question – what would I want people to do to help me if I was in Rick Laird’s position? Then I know I made the right decision.

“While people may not agree with me being arrested, I hope they will see this as an opportunity to further the conversation about climate change and engage more people in helping to shape what is all of our futures.

“We all have a role to play.”

You can read the statement in full here, and find out more about the Leard Blockade here.

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Feature image via Front Line On Coal/Twitter.