Northern Territory Remote Aborigines – “We were not adequately consulted on fracking permits”
Northern Territory Indigenous community says it was not adequately consulted over fracking permits By Nadia Daly Yaho 7 News, March 29, 2015, The granting of fracking permits on Aboriginal freehold land in the Northern Territory is stoking tensions among some residents of a remote Aboriginal community who say they were not adequately consulted.
Last week, the NT Government announced it had granted the first two petroleum exploration permits on Aboriginal land managed by the Northern Land Council (NLC).
Jilkminggan community, 140 kilometres south-east of Katherine, with a population of about 300, sits in a zone that excludes fracking, according to the NLC.
However, fracking has been permitted over nearby swathes of land. News that gas companies could now drill exploratory wells on their land came as a shock to many in the community.
The permits give three resource companies – Imperial Oil and Gas, Minerals Australia and Jacaranda Minerals – the right to explore for oil and gas, including through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
Fracturing – or fracking as it is often called – involves pumping water, sand and chemicals at high pressure to fracture rock layers deep within the earth to extract natural gas.
It comes just a month after a NT Government report found regulations on fracking were not yet robust enough to manage environmental risk.
Jilkminggan residents told the ABC they knew little about fracking and were not informed about the practice or its risks at any consultations with the NLC or oil and gas companies.
Some said at community meetings there were a large number of people who did not agree to the licences being granted……
consultations with oil and gas companies and the NLC were not comprehensive enough.
“They always come to old people,” Ms Farrell said.
“Some traditional owners don’t have English, good understanding to say no. They just sign.”……..
Those who attended the community meeting in Jilkminggan were outraged that fracking could take place on their land.
Their concerns centred around what they saw as a threat to the river and underground water systems surrounding the community.
The Roper River is the lifeblood of the town: people fish there for food and children spend their days swimming and playing in the streams.
“I’m only young myself and I want to have kids one day and I don’t want them to be poisoned,” resident Simone Baker said.
“I don’t want to look out the back door and see there’s no water in our river. I want to go fishing and eat the fish I catch.
“I want to live on my own country without worry about the consequences of what white people do when they sink bores, put poisons down there, all for gas.”
Roper River ‘is the life of this area’: pastoralist
Leaseholders on nearby land shared the concerns of the community about the lack of consultation and lack of knowledge about environmental risks associated with the fracking industry.
Unlike Aboriginal traditional owners, there is no legal requirement for pastoralists to be asked permission or even informed before oil and gas companies begin exploration work on their land.
Pastoralist Daniel Tapp from Big River Station was furious about the granting of fracking permits near his property.
“We feel like we haven’t got a voice here, and no-one’s been told about anything.”
He said the law needed to change……….
“It’s a recipe for disaster. The environmental laws that they have to follow aren’t up to standard but they’re letting them do it anyway,” he said.
“Most of our water is from the river, the Roper River. It’s the life of this area.”…..
David Morris from the Northern Territory’s Environment Defenders Office said the NT’s laws were the weakest in the country, and it was not enough for industries to self-regulate.
“We need to upgrade our regulations and laws in the Territory,” he said.
“The government says it was taking steps to do that. In my view you should do that before you allow the process to go ahead.” https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/26856438/northern-territory-indigenous-community-says-it-was-not-adequately-consulted-over-fracking-permits/
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1.This month.
Zoom webinar – “Nuclear Winter: The Environmental Consequences of a Nuclear Exchange.”
April 7th at 11:30 am PST / 2:30 pm EST
Nuclear Winter: The Environmental Consequences of a Nuclear Exchange”
Join us for an informative webinar with renowned atmospheric scientist, Professor Brian Toon, as he discusses the environmental risks and global impacts of a nuclear war. Despite the potential damage caused by the blast from even small nuclear weapons, many countries continue to invest in and expand nuclear arsenals. Professor Toon will provide a scientific assessment of civilian fatalities, agricultural failures, climate concerns, and complications with food supply that would follow any international nuclear conflict. We need to plan how to prevent nuclear conflict and avoid catastrophe. Politicians and military planners must be made aware of global climate and agricultural complications that would ensue. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from, and engage in, this vital conversation
The Road to War brings a sharp focus to why it is not in Australia’s best interest to be dragged into a war with China which will almost inevitably go nuclear very quickly. The filmmaker has interviewed some of Australia’s senior foreign policy analysts who have vast experience behind them in analysing what really is going on here as the United States rattles its sabres with China. And sets us up to be its proxy, like the poor Ukranians have been fed into the Meatgrinder. So America can remain the Top Dog. The Road to War reveals how the United States through its spy base at Pine Gap and by stationing six nuclear capable B52 bombers in the Top End (without permission from the traditional owners) is making Australia a prime nuclear target if the current war of words suddenly melts down into full scale war.
The Road to War shows the implicit connection between Carbon emissions (the US military uses a whopping 70% of America’s annual petroleum to move its armies and vast War Machine around the globe to its 800+ military bases..but under a loophole wangled at Kyoto, the US military does not have to report its C02 annual emissions). The Road to War starts screening at selected cities and regional centres in March. See the trailer end for details.
Antinuclear 
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