NIMBIN
Nimbin was first settled in 1882 and was a small quiet country town until it entered the consciousness of Australia and further afield when it hosted the Aquarius Music Festival in 1973. Since the decline in the Australian dairy and agricultural industry, Nimbin had become a virtual ghost town.
It was chosen by a group of students and artists to host a major music and counterculture lifestyle festival, attended by many including plenty of authorities from the NSW police, to whom it didn't go un-noticed that large numbers of these 'hippies' were engaging in smoking cannabis.
GANGA faeries
After the festival, quite a few intrepid souls had fallen in love with the place. It's natural beauty, rich agricultural land and perfect climate is ideal for self sufficiency. Many decided to stay and set up communes and strive for the idealistic Utopian dream borne of the 70's. This communal way of life grew and many moved to the area and set up even more multiple occupancy properties, some with the idealistic intentions of those first communal pioneers, some not. The area has attracted many artists, writers, actors, musicians, small farmers, environmentalists, idealists, permaculture enthusiasts and mainstream society dropouts. A great place to come and just be.
It's fame as a place of tolerance grew. Nimbin being one of the few places in NSW where people could in relative freedom. This freedom attracted many including ones more interested in making a quick buck. This led to the ideal of Nimbin being sullied and stained, especially when harder drugs such as heroine came on the scene. For every positive force, the equal and opposite negative force comes into play. Today we still suffer the impact of those who only reside in Nimbin to abuse the freedom that was created in Nimbin. The community strive towards the freedom without the abuse. Naturally this could be easily achieved by legalisation. Proven in many countries around the world to be the most effective way of reducing drug abuse and the crime associated with prohibition.
This area is part of the 'Rainbow Region' and is also culturally important to the Bundjalung Aboriginal Australians. The Bundjalung people who originally inhabited this area are still active and vocal in the town's affairs. Nimbin is said to be the resting place of Warrajum, the Rainbow Serpent, and is known as a place of healing.
Nimbin hosts the annual MardiGrass Rally 'a peaceful protest in a non-confrontational atmosphere, that ordinary people could comfortably attend.' The intention is to hold a MardiGrass every year until prohibition ends.
MardiGrass PostersFurther Reading:
For a deeper insight into the history of Nimbin and the Aquarius Festival, have a look at milesago.com
History of Art in Nimbin - the painted building and stunning murals
The Sixties blog - Hippie Paradise in Nimbin Australia Richard Aylen
POLICE being used to support private agendas
Political greed spurned from the corporations that run the governments is destroying this sacred little town. Police have been ordered to take our freedom of speech. They are encroaching on personal rights and they have taken a god given organic herbal medicine from the sick and the dying. They have taken away the education that we have provided for 1ooo, s of people from all over the world who come to visit. They have taken away personal choices and medicine from the sick and the dying.
Our town has been made into a training facility for helicopters and riot clad police as well as mounted police not to mention police on bicycles.
Police Overkill
Police have raped our community. The town has cameras all down the street but if someone breaks into a storefront, abuses someone’s personal property, even an assault or bar brawl, drinking in the street they are nowhere to be found. They never have images from the street cameras; they were blurred; its to dusty for fingerprints. I have even heard 'We know who did it but we can’t tell you but we will later and you have the right to refuse them service', as much as to say we can’t do anything.
Our children see their parents being ridiculed by the authorities for choosing an alternate lifestyle and they purposely feed the media with untruths and never fail to mention trips, speed and heroin to affiliate god given organic bush marijuana with hard addictive drugs. They have refused medical and other human rights and used excessive force on teenagers, woman and children. They seem to save the worst beating for the sickest people.
It is not a pretty picture, I know, but I felt it had to be written. If I didn’t, then people may not know of our plight. I say to people 'Would you like your child to be in law enforcement, to be paid to hurt people financially, physically and morally?' My conclusion is that they have learned the behaviour by being indoctrinated by the medieval rule - kill or be killed - or for the fun or the sport.
R.I.P. for those who didn’t survive long enough for their medicine to be legalised as well as being treated as a criminal despite recommendations that marijuana was beneficial to them. My son and my husband, who served his country and died without relief from pain, are included in these people.
