Antinuclear

In Western Australia, the system and the media benefit miners, not Aboriginals

the reality is that once an Aboriginal community commits to the Native Title process they are locked into a process which guarantees that mining will take place on their land whether they want the mining or not..

..In WA the mining interests are also assisted in an almost blanket (corporate) media message that mining is good for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people alike. This is nowhere more evident than in the sole WA daily newspaper, The West Australian which fawns over local magnates Andrew Forrest and Gina Rinehart in weekly articles and opinion pieces, 

Yindjibarndi Aboriginal people take on WA FMG mining magnate, CPA The Guardian, 4 Aug 11 On one side are the proud Yindjibarndi people, who wish to preserve their culture, customs, language, way of life and country which embodies their spirit. On the other side is Australia’s second richest person, Andrew Forrest (another Western Australian mining magnate, Gina Rinehart being the richest) with a net worth of $6.9 billion who is chairman of the corporation he founded, Fortescue Metals Group (and currently appealing a ruling by the Federal Court that bars him from running FMG), which mines and exports iron ore.

In the beautiful rugged Pilbara region of north Western Australia a struggle is being played out between a timeless culture and a culture and ideology which is threatening the vitality of humanity itself.

The other intriguing story to be told here is that of Native Title and whether it is really working the way it was originally intended or has it become a one-way street for the benefit of mining companies. When Native Title was introduced in the mid 1990s it was thought that the process would give Aboriginal people an opportunity to be at the negotiating table on decisions about the future of their culture and country. The truth is now that this occurs only as an appearance while the reality is that once an Aboriginal community commits to the Native Title process they are locked into a process which guarantees that mining will take place on their land whether they want the mining or not.

In WA the mining interests are also assisted in an almost blanket (corporate) media message that mining is good for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people alike. This is nowhere more evident than in the sole WA daily newspaper, The West Australian which fawns over local magnates Andrew Forrest and Gina Rinehart in weekly articles and opinion pieces, celebrating the wealth and prosperity they allegedly bring to the state, championing their causes, and glossing over their weaknesses and the detriment they cause to some communities and the environment…..

http://www.cpa.org.au/guardian/2011/1512/07-yindjibarndi.html

August 4, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | aboriginal issues, Western Australia