A HANDFUL of nannas from WA’s mid-west has driven five hours to Fremantle to protest fracking at the Good Oil Conference, being held at the Esplanade Hotel.

The women belong to the Fracking Awareness Irwin Region Knitting Nannas group and knit protest banners.

The conference is promoting new investment in the fracking industry and presenting potential new fracking sites in WA, including the Irwin valley (in the massive Shire of Irwin).

• The Knitting Nannas group is protesting fracking in WA’s Irwin region. Photo by Marta Pascual Juanola

“We don’t want them to think that they can do what they want without people complaining,” nannas spokesperson Julie Burr told the Herald.

“We are the people that live there and we love our life! We are really concerned that our groundwaters and our rivers will be polluted by their horizontal fracking. We don’t have much water there. Our water is so precious, not only to drink but also for our citrus fruits, oranges and mango farms. If it’s contaminated it can’t be grown.” All blankets and rugs knitted at the conference will be given to homeless people.

by MARTA PASCUAL JUANOLA