Lock On

"Songs to save Australia’s Forests"

This CD was produced by Andy Parks as part of his Honours degree in contemprary Music at Southern Cross University, Lismore, Australia. He was looking at the role that music has played in the environment movement of northern NSW. From the Terania Creek protests in 1979 up to the present day.

Terania was important because it was the beginning of non violent direct action forest protests in Australia. It established a blueprint for local community actions by combining grassroots participation, creative and effective use of the media, legal and political expertise and a strong sense of moral conviction. Their defiant stance was articulated and expressed through songs, a tradition that has continued throughout the history of Australian environmental acivism. Their actions ultimately led to the creation of the Nightcap National Park, now recognised for its World Heritage values.

The region has played a major role in the history of Australian environmentalism. Wild Cattle Creek and Chaelundi were other significant campaigns. Ten years after the Terania/Nightcap protests, Chelundi saw a new breed of radical forest defenders and set another landmark legal precident for endangered species.

What Andy found was that music is the glue that binds the movement together because it can move people in ways that other forms of communication can’t.

Two thirds of the money raised for the sale of "Lock On" goes back to supporting local Northen NSW, Australia, environmental organisations."