The people have taken to the streets over the weekend to voice their various concerns about the future of resources projects in the country’s south-eastern corner.

Hundreds turned out in two separate public demonstrations in Melbourne and Tasmania, showing the strong opinions evoked by arguments both for and against resource development.

A pro-development rally saw hundreds in attendance in the Tasmanian town of Marrawah, located near the site of an approved Shree Minerals iron ore project. Some three hundred cars drove in convoy to the planned mine-site to contend with conservationists, who have set up camp to hinder progress on the development.

Mayor Daryl Quilliam, whose electorate surrounds the planned mines, said there were a large number of locals in the pro-development group, indicating that “the people that will be down at the campsite will be majority of mainland people so it shows you that the local people are on the side of the mines,” he said.

In a second protest over the weekend - not related to the ongoing Tarkine clash – more than 400 people marched through Melbourne calling on the Victorian Government to ban coal seam gas fracking.

Victoria is still under a moratorium on fracking, but members of the anti-CSG Lock the Gate Alliance say they believe that may soon be overturned. Many of the protesters had travelled from the city of Gippsland, where the Lakes Oil company has several exploration permits. The awarding of the permits has added to the environmentalists’ concerns that Victoria will soon allow such projects to go ahead.

Mirboo North farmer Tania Brown condensed the argument in her address to the crowd; “There is no safe place to farm in Australia, under the current law... what we want is farm land, not gas land.”

The State Minister for Energy and Resources, Nicholas Kotsiras, said there would be open communication with all parties on the moratorium of fracking.