Koongarra land to be saved from uranium mining
Mr Lee, the sole member of the Djok clan and senior custodian of the land known as Koongarra, could have become one of Australia’s richest men if he had allowed the French energy giant Areva to extract 14,000 tonnes of uranium from its mineral lease in the area……….
Land of riches given over to Kakadu, The Age, LINDSAY MURDOCH, KAKADUMay 29, 2010 T HE World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park will be expanded to include thousands of hectares of ecologically sensitive land that has uranium worth billions of dollars.
Aboriginal traditional owner Jeffrey Lee has offered the land to the federal government so it can become part of Kakadu, where he works as a ranger.
Mr Lee, the sole member of the Djok clan and senior custodian of the land known as Koongarra, could have become one of Australia’s richest men if he had allowed the French energy giant Areva to extract 14,000 tonnes of uranium from its mineral lease in the area……….
The Age has now learnt that the Northern Land Council, an organisation that represents Aboriginal groups in northern Australia, has written to federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett offering the land on behalf of Mr Lee.
For years, the pro-mining land council delayed relaying the offer to the government as Areva held out hopes of extracting the uranium on its 12.5-square-kilometre lease.
But despite what Mr Lee, 39, described as “enormous pressure” on him “for a long time”, he refused to be swayed in his determination to see the land become part of Kakadu………..
According to Aboriginal beliefs, the land includes places where the rainbow serpent entered the ground, and is home to a giant blue-tongue lizard that should not be disturbed. It is also said to include art painted on rocks hundreds, perhaps thousands or even tens of thousands of years ago.
Before moving to incorporate Koongarra into Kakadu, the federal government must go through a legal process, including seeking a response from Areva.
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