Rudd Uranium Bill suits miners, disadvantages aborigines

Rudd Uranium Bill will increase Aboriginal disadvantage
The Greens Scott LudlamTuesday 8th September 2009

A Federal Bill that will apply a uniform royalty regime to all uranium mining projects in the Northern Territory will increase Aboriginal disadvantage, the Australian Greens say.

The Uranium Royalty (Northern Territory) Bill 2008, referred last year to the Senate Economics Committee, was debated in the Senate today (Tues 8/9/2009).

“As the Senate inquiry has previously revealed, the Rudd Government has become captured by the uranium mining industry and continues to follow the wishes of the Uranium Industry Framework, an unrepresentative and industry-dominated body created by the former Howard Government,” the Greens’ Nuclear Spokesperson, Senator Scott Ludlam said.

“It also confirmed that the current ‘for-profit’ mining royalties system in the Northern Territory – which this Bill seeks to extend to uranium and other designated substances such as thorium – is failing Aboriginal people.

“For example, the current approvals system in the Territory forces Aboriginal people to consent to mining if they consent to exploration. ………..

“It is not based on best practice and it is a wholly unacceptable way to address the huge gap that people will experience when they have given up their land and the quality of their water. This Bill will mean they will not receive payments when the market is down, nor during the non-profitable start-up years and for the long periods when remediation and the replenishment of equipment or capital items will see no profits coming in.

“If the mine is not making profit, then the Aboriginal communities go without……………

The Greens’ proposed amendments to this Bill (assuming Labor and the Opposition choose to pass it) include:
o A remediation fund to ensure mining companies, not taxpayers, pay for clean-up and monitoring of the mine and tailings;
o Increasing accountability by providing support to the NT Government from the Federal Auditor General to ensure the correct calculation of payments and their delivery to the NT Government;
o A requirement that the Supervising Scientist that oversees Ranger uranium mine also oversees other uranium mines in the NT; and
o That there be a review of the royalty arrangements as pertains to Aborigional people bcause it is not working.