Glenn Beutel

In early February I visited Glenn Beutel for 4 days. Glenn lives in Acland, Queensland, where he has lived all his life. His average day involves mowing the lawns in the town, cleaning up any rubbish, chatting to the workers about their movements, speculating on the activities of any foreign vehicles lurking about town, and writing submissions to council and the Queensland government.

Glenn is the only resident of Acland.

In 2004, New Hope Coal bought some surrounding areas of the town and began to mine. By 2008 they had started making submissions for stage 2.

By 2009, the population of Acland had dwindled from 240 to 1.

I stayed with Glenn for 4 days, and wrote a play entitled "A Visit from Opportunity" for submission to the Toowoomba short play festival.

Excerpt below.

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Scene 4: The Memorial Meeting

Newtown War Memorial. Early evening. Citizens of Newtown are

gathered. The COUNCILLOR is delivering a speech.

COUNCILLOR: People of Newtown! Congratulations – we’ve received

some new information from the mining company. They’ve agreed to

our demands that appropriate sums be paid to people who want to

leave town. Now, it’s up to you. You can of course choose to stay

put. This is, of course, your free choice, and Newtown is a beautiful

town. But if you HAVE been looking for an opportunity, if you HAVE

been having that discussion over the kitchen table, well, now you

can take it, and rest assured you’ll be getting over and above top

dollar.

The Company won’t make any specific offers on your property. You

must approach them privately.

Look, just quietly, and don’t spread this around, there’s a good

chance that you’ll be offered a much higher value than what your

home is actually worth. We, of course, value your homes highly at

Old Town Shire. That’s why we want you to sell them to the mining

company, so that you get top dollar.

The council also values highly its public land. We value it on your

behalf. We also value keeping our council rates low. That’s why

we’re going to look at options that will be the best utilization of the

land. Some of this will include transferring the ownership of the land

to the mining company in exchange for compensation. Starting with

this land we’re on right now. But don’t worry, it’s all so that we can

keep your rates low.

TOWNSWOMAN: What about the war memorial?

COUNCILLOR: The memorial will be relocated to an appropriate site.

We understand that the Newtown War Memorial, like all memorials

around the country, has significant community value. We must

honour our fallen soldiers who offered such brave resistance, so

that we can live the lives of freedom that we live today.

PAT: When do we get to vote on Stage 2?

COUNCILLOR: Stage 2 will go through the usual EIS process like all

other projects. There will be ample opportunity for you to respond

and there will be an ad in the newspaper when the application is

before council.

Beat.

COUNCILLOR: Now if there are no further questions, I just want to

make it clear that we are always available to hear your concerns. If

you want to approach us, by all means. As all of you know, our door

has always been, and will continue to be, open! And as we transition

from Rose Council to the brand new, gleaming Old City Council,

nothing will change there. So feel free to approach us with your

concerns, and remember, we have the best interests of the Shire

and each and every citizen in it at heart. Thank you.

Scattered, unenthusiastic applause. Sound of the Townsfolk exiting

the room, discussing what they’ll do.

The COUNCILLOR takes LEN aside.

COUNCILLOR: Listen, Len. I don’t want you to be a troublemaker

about this and ruin it for everyone else. This is big bucks we’re

talking about. New schools, new hospitals, new libraries, everything.

Opportunity has already made a 20,000 dollar donation to the art

gallery. They really need that kind of money over there. You know

how hard Michael ‐

LEN: My mother worked for a year to build that memorial. She said

it was the best thing she’d ever done.

Pause.

COUNCILLOR: Yes.

Pause.

COUNCILLOR: Len, there’s something you should know.

LEN: What is it?

COUNCILLOR: Before the former council wound up, we had a

lengthy discussion, and the consensus was that it was better for

everyone if we granted the rights of all of the public spaces in the

town to Opportunity.

LEN is shocked.

LEN: You sold it to them?

COUNCILLOR: It’s irreversible.

LEN: Why?

COUNCILLOR: We’re erasing Newtown, Len. It’s out.

LEN: What?

COUNCILLOR: We’re fucking you Len. I’m sorry. The New Shire

wants us to deliver on targets like Hospitals, Schools, roads and

other stuff people want in Old Town. To deliver, we need money.

Opportunity Mining has a pile of money. So, you see, we need the

mine.

LEN: (bottled‐up outrage) That’s honest of you. What do you mean irreversible?

COUNCILLOR: We’re trying a new thing, brutal honesty. Rudd’s

forcing it on us from above. It’s a means of directly connecting with

the electorate. Irreversible means ‘cannot be reversed’. It’s the law

now. It’s done.

LEN: Ok then – tell me honestly. What if I refuse?

COUNCILLOR: They buy you out.

LEN: And if I don’t want money?

COUNCILLOR: Len, you want the money. Trust me. The other path is

to have a mining company all over your arse for the next 15 years,

mining up to your doorstep, until it’s not possible to mine coal any

more. No‐one wants that for you Len.

Pause. LEN can’t believe it.

LEN: This is like being on a train to Auschwitz.

COUNCILLOR: You’re right. You’re on it.

End Scene.

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