DEDICATED environmentalist Mark Selmes donned a koala costume to support the Knitting Nannas Against Coal Seam Gas when the protest group set up their information stand at the Cyril Flood Rotunda this week.
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Mr Selmes, from Taralga in the NSW southern highlands, stopped off at Dubbo on his way to the CSG protest site in the Pilliga forest.
Gasfield Free Dubbo convenor Sally Forsstrom said Mr Selmes was well known for his alter ego Cranky Koala and had fronted picket lines, MPs offices and community events across the state.
"His creative campaigning style draws attention to environmental issues," Ms Forsstrom said.
"The koala costume certainly attracted interest in Church Street on Wednesday."
The Knitting Nannas were keen to dispel myths about "radical" CSG protesters.
They gathered each week to knit, handed out information and urged people to have conversations about the risks CSG drilling posed to the environment, water, and prime agricultural land.
Ms Forsstrom said the Nannas were very concerned about fracking and contamination of water.
"A number of people from Dubbo have been involved in the protests at the Santos Leewood CSG waste water facility in the Pilliga," she said.
"I was there twice in January with different Knitting Nannas. People throughout the north-west of NSW are putting a lot of energy into showing that CSG does not have widespread support."
Neil Kennedy, a 73-year-old farmer from Coonamble, was joined by about 30 local and regional supporters when he put a chain around his neck and "locked on" to the front gate of the Leewood construction site on Wednesday.
Two days earlier police used pepper spray on 47-year-old Kerri Tonkin after she allegedly attached herself to an excavator and refused to leave the site.
Ms Forsstrom described the police action as very unusual.
"Protesters in the Pilliga have always had a good relationship with police who have been really consultative," she said.
"People have been locking on every day since December and police have always given protesters the opportunity to unhook themselves.
"I really can't understand how the pepper spray event occurred. The police directions to unlock are routine."
Ms Forsstrom said "permanent people" at the Pilliga protest camp held a meeting at four o'clock every afternoon to plan the strategy for the next morning.
"The protesters know the police who are also part of the community," she said.
"The people who lock on have a support team with them and when the police arrive everyone stands back. Only one person talks to the police. It is a very controlled situation because the protesters don't want to lose their temper, particularly when the weather is hot."
Ms Forsstrom said the Pilliga forest was the recharge area for the Great Artesian Basin and protesters feared losing the important source of clean water.
"Mining companies say if the artesian basin is damaged CSG work will be stopped but that is like closing the gate after the horse has bolted," she said.
Ms Forsstrom was among about 100 people who chanted save water slogans when a BBC television team travelled to the Pilliga protest on January 27.
The news team was brought to the area by Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham who described CSG as "a risky, dangerous industry".
"We want these companies to go away," he said.
Mr Buckingham said his biggest concern was the contamination of underground water.
He said water was more precious than the short-term profits from CSG.
Protesters claimed an accidental leak of water extracted from coal seams had "killed" an area of woodland.
They told the BBC the wastewater was salty and loaded with toxic chemicals.
The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association strongly rejected any suggestion of environmental damage.
The association said the industry was strictly regulated and safe for the environment.
Santos described protests in the Pilliga as illegal and said the company had strong support from the Narrabri community.