Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) propagandising to Aborigines
They talk of ‘showing the group how we safely manage waste here at ANSTO’. If it’s all that safe why not keep it there at Lucas Heights? Why transport it 1000s of miles to outback South Australia?
They are lying about “intermediate waste” . the waste returned from Franc e is classified as “high level” by the French waste management authority ANDRA
ANSTO WELCOMES TRADITIONAL OWNERS TO LUCAS HEIGHTS The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) last week welcomed members of the Adnyamathanha community in South Australia.
Barndioota, which is in their area, is a potential site for a National Radioactive Waste Management Facility.
Les Bursill, an elder of the Dharawal community, gave the welcome to country and shared insights about some of the rich traditional heritage surrounding ANSTO.
The Sutherland Shire Mayor, Carmelo Pesce, was on hand to welcome guests, and discuss some of the benefits of having a nuclear facility in his areas, in terms of jobs, growth and community participation.
The group were at ANSTO at the invitation of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, which is extending invitations for such tours to all community members near potential sites of the facility.
“It was our pleasure to the welcome visitors, to show the group how we safely manage waste here at ANSTO, and to answer any questions they had,” said ANSTO’s Chief Nuclear Officer, Hef Griffiths.
“The group toured our campus, saw how the low level radioactive waste is packaged and stored, and stood beside the intermediate level waste container that returned to Australia from France in December 2015.
Throughout the year, ANSTO staff and experts will continue to make visits to Barndioota as part of technical studies, and ANSTO will continue to receive guests looking to get facts on radioactive waste management.
Ruling in favour of challenge against Noongar Indigenous land use agreement may lead to amendment of Native Title Act
Adani mine leases and national parks in doubt after native title court decision https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/05/adani-mine-leases-and-national-parks-in-doubt-after-native-title-court-decision
Ruling in favour of challenge against Noongar Indigenous land use agreement may lead to amendment of Native Title Act, Guardian, Helen Davidson, Resources projects including the Adani coalmine, pastoral leases and a number of national parks across the country are potentially in doubt following a shock federal court decision striking out a native title deal in Western Australia.
The ruling by a full bench of the federal court on Thursday has prompted speculation the Native Title Act will be amended in response. Continue reading
Saving your sacred homeland from nuclear waste dumping
How would you feel if your suburb was being used as a nuclear waste dump? MamaMia, 26 Jan 17 RACHEL WAGNER
There are so many stories of this country that we don’t often hear.
Incredible stories of the earth, and the power of its people.
Sun drenched plains stretching to the horizon. Rich red earth, hot against the cool blue sky. Dreamtime stories indelibly etched in every tree, every rock and every grain of sand.
This is our home, thought the Warlmanpa and Warumungu people.
What a perfect place for a nuclear waste dump, thought the Australian government.
When the Government first proposed Northern Territory’s Muckaty Station, near Tennant Creek, as the site of Australia’s first nuclear waste site, Kylie Sambo was just a school girl confused by a story on the radio.
She had no idea what it meant when her uncle told her it was her time “to be in front, fighting this problem.”
“Just remember,” he told her, “You may think you own the land. But the land owns you.”
Now, after eight years of fighting, the Indigenous activist can say she played an integral role in saving her family’s sacred homeland.
It’s the most amazing Australian story, this week on the Fighting For Fair podcast. It was the death of Kylie’s uncle that was the catalyst for her to take on the Government in a legal challenge to protect the land.
“I heard him through the winds. Through the birds. Through the trees – the branches as they rub against each other,” she said.
“Then I got the idea of making two things that I loved in my life work. My land, and my music. I combined them together and I created something great, something extraordinary, something that is true to me and something that will always be with me.”
A 16-year-old Kylie crafted a song that spoke of the injustice against her people.
Don’t waste the territory, this land means a lot to me / Been living here for centuries, this place we call Muckaty / Let’s get together and fight / Planting your poison in our land, just to get some cash in the hand / You’re drilling a hole right through my soul.
Historically, music and politics are intrinsically linked……..
On behalf of the traditional owners of the land, leading social justice law firm Maurice Blackburn took the case to the Federal Court where Kylie used her voice to fight the dump.
Alongside countless friends, family and supporters of the cause, the young rapper was able to stand up in court as a witness, bringing home a victory for the Warlmanpa and Warumungu people, and saving Muckaty from becoming a dumping ground for nuclear waste.
But as Kylie knows all too well, the fight is not over.
The government is still searching for a new site, with other areas of sacred land in contention and traditional landowners at the helm of the protest.
“As how far my culture goes, I will protect it and I will protect my land. So that’s what it took for us to win this case but there’s still more to come,” Kylie said.
“We don’t own the land. The land owns us.” http://www.mamamia.com.au/native-title-federal-court-case/
Aboriginal Traditional Owners speak out against Yeelirrie uranium mining approval
17 Jan 17 The West Australia Nuclear Free Alliance and Traditional Owners of the Yeelirrie area have spoken out against the Environment Minister decision to approve the Yeelirrie uranium mine.
Kado Muir, Chairperson of the West Australia Nuclear Free Alliance said, “I’m disappointed, but it’s not over, we’ll keep fighting against the Yeelirrie uranium mine proposal. The project doesn’t add up and the risks for the environment as well cultural heritage are far too great.”
“The Ministers decision to make many species extinct against the advice of experts and the EPA shows how little our environmental laws mean to this Government.”
Richard Evan Koara Elder said “Cameco and the Government have no respect for our heritage or for life.”
“The Minister who gave approval to mine Yeelirrie, he does not own the land. He does not have the right to destroy our cultural heritage or the subterranean fauna. He’s supposed to protect the environment not approve its destruction.”
“This is our sovereign land and we do not want Cameco to mine here. We’ve fought against this mine for 40 years, our old people said not to touch that area, we have to listen to them. We will continue to say no to Yeelirrie. We will keep fighting, our country is too important.” https://nuclearfree.wordpress.com/media/
Battle Lines Drawn Over Indian Mega Mine
‘Murrawah Johnson, 21, of the Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council,
is among those standing in the way of the huge Carmichael coal mine project
in Australia’s Queensland state.’ http://menafn.com/1095149597/Battle-Lines-Drawn-Over-Indian-Mega-Mine Stephen de Tarczynski | MENAFN Press 30 December 2016:
“‘Our people are the unique people from that country,’ says Murrawah, whose name means ‘rainbow’ in the indigenous Gubbi Gubbi language.
‘That is who we are in our identity, in our culture, in our song and in our dance,’ she adds.
The mine’s estimated average annual carbon emissions of 79 million tonnes are three times those of New Delhi, six times those of Amsterdam and double Tokyo’s average annual emissions.
“The Wangan and Jagalingou, numbering up to 500 people, regard the Carmichael coal mine
as a threat to their very existence and have repeatedly rejected the advances of Adani Mining,
the company behind the project.
The traditional owners argue the mine would destroy their land, which ‘means that our story is then destroyed. And we as a people and our identity, as well,’
Murrawah, a spokesperson for her people’s Family Council, told IPS. … “
UK government avoids the question on nuclear waste going to Aboriginal land
Radioactive Waste:Written question – 46886
Margaret Henry Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA
HERE IS THE ANSWER –
“There is a very small quantity of Australian owned radioactive waste currently stored in the UK. We anticipate that this will be returned to Australia in due course in line with contractual commitments. The location of any storage and disposal facilities for this waste will be a matter for the Australian authorities.
Any shipment of radioactive material out of the UK will comply with all relevant international laws and use ships which meet national and international requirements.” https://www.facebook.com/groups/344452605899556/
British and Australian governments wash their hands of radioactive contamination of Aboriginal lands
Bronwyn Lucas Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA, 30 Dec 16 I heard that the British did an absolutely appalling job of cleanup at Maralinga … it was hardly worth the effort, as I understand it. I heard stories of hot winds blowing, dust everywhere, a cursory undertaking. One would think we still had Menzies at the helm. The Dark Side is in this together … if we think our government is taking care of us, I’d say to think again.Margaret Henry Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA, 30 Dec 16 In the UK parliament in January 2016, they were asked if the Government will issue an apology to the indigenous people of Australia for British nuclear tests carried out on their land in the 1950s and 1960s.
ANSWER-
“In 1968, Australia signed an agreement with the UK confirming that the clean-up of all test sites had been completed satisfactorily. As announced to the House on 10 December 1993,(Official Report, column 421), the Government agreed to make an ex gratia payment of £20 million to the Federal Government of Australia as a contribution to the cost of the further clean-up of the Maralinga site. A copy of the note giving effect to this agreement was placed in the Library of the House. The note also records that the Government of Australia indemnified the Government of the UK against claims from Australian nationals or residents. The Government now regards the matter as closed.” https://www.facebook.com/groups/344452605899556/
Treaty discussions between Aboriginal nations and South Australian government
South Australian Government enters historic discussions with Aboriginal nations The World Today By Caroline Winter http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-14/south-australia-enters-historic-treaty-discussions/8120162
“South Australia is making history, with the State Government entering treaty discussions with Aboriginal nations to help address past injustices.
“The Government has set aside $4.4 million over five years to support the treaty process and the appointment of an independent commissioner for treaty.
“At this stage it is unclear what the treaties will cover or whether compensation will be included,
but South Australian Indigenous leaders said the process would set a positive course for the future. … ”
SA set for Indigenous treaty talks ‘South Australia could have up to 40 treaties after
an announcement was made in Adelaide on Tuesday morning.’https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2016/12/14/sa-set-indigenous-treaty-talks?cid=inbody:challenges-ahead-for-victorian-treaty-negotiations Madeline Hayman-Reber Source: NITV News 14 December 2016:
““Treaty is an important step towards addressing the wrongs of the past.
The fact that so many Aboriginal people to this day face such significant disadvantage remains the greatest stain on our society,” Mr Maher said. “This marks the first time that a state has committed to individualised treaties for Aboriginal communities, and comes off the back of yesterday’s announcement in Victoria of plans for a statewide treaty. … “
Australia’s nuclear industry – a history of crude racism against Aborigines
Dumping on Traditional Owners: the ugly face of Australian racism The Drum, 29 March 12 The nuclear industry has been responsible for some of the crudest racism in Australia’s history.
This racism dates from the British nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s but it can still be seen today.
The British government conducted 12 nuclear bomb tests in Australia in the 1950s, most of them at Maralinga in South Australia. Permission was not sought from affected Aboriginal groups such as the Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara, Tjarutja and Kokatha. Thousands of people were adversely affected and the impact on Aboriginal people was particularly profound.
Many Aboriginal people suffered from radiological poisoning. There are tragic accounts of families sleeping in the bomb craters. So-called ‘Native Patrol Officers’ patrolled thousands of square kilometres to try to ensure that Aboriginal people were removed before nuclear tests took place. Signs were erected in some places – written in English, which few in the affected Indigenous communities could understand. The 1985 Royal Commission found that regard for Aboriginal safety was characterised by “ignorance, incompetence and cynicism”. Many Aboriginal people were forcibly removed from their homelands and taken to places such as the Yalata mission in South Australia, which was effectively a prison camp.
In the late-1990s, the Australian government carried out a clean-up of the Maralinga nuclear test site. It was done on the cheap and many tonnes of debris contaminated with kilograms of plutonium remain buried in shallow, unlined pits in totally unsuitable geology. As nuclear engineer and whistleblower Alan Parkinson said of the ‘clean-up’ on ABC radio in August 2002:
“What was done at Maralinga was a cheap and nasty solution that wouldn’t be adopted on white-fellas land.”
Despite the residual contamination, the Federal Government has off-loaded responsibility for the land onto the Maralinga Tjarutja Traditional Owners. The Government portrays this land transfer as an act of reconciliation, but the real agenda was spelt out in a 1996 government document which states that the clean-up was “aimed at reducing Commonwealth liability arising from residual contamination.”….. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3919296.html
Traditional Owners construct ‘legal line of defence’ against Adani and Qld Govt
http://wanganjagalingou.com.au/traditional-owners-construct-legal-line-of-defence-against-adani-and-qld-govt/ 7 December 2016:
“Announce Full Bench Supreme Court Appeal – natural justice sought
“Express Anger at Gautam Adani’s Failure to Meet
“The Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) Traditional Owners Council have today announced a further action in their legal line of defence of their lands and rights against the imposition of Adani’s “mine of mass destruction”. They have also expressed offence at multi-billionaire Mr Gautam Adani’s failure to meet with them during his visit to Australia to spruik the Carmichael project.
“Leading Aboriginal rights advocate, primary W&J Traditional Owner and Council spokesperson, Mr. Adrian Burragubba, says, “We are constructing a legal line of defence because the Queensland Government and Adani are trying to bulldoze us aside. We will not stand by while they sing from the same song sheet about their grandiose but hollow plans.
We are acting in the courts to stop this destructive project. Our people, the Australian community, and the world deserve better than this cavalier, unjust and outdated approach to our shared future” …
“W&J youth leader and council spokesperson, Ms. Murrawah Johnson, says,
“It is our obligation as Traditional Owners to safeguard the future for our people and secure our lands and waters against this ‘mine of mass destruction’.
The W&J Council members have vowed to do everything in our power to stop the mine proceeding,
and we will take our concerns to the High Court if necessary.
““We are not easily intimidated. We will fight this mine until Mr Adani and his people pack their bags and head home”, she said.
“Lawyer for the Supreme Court Appeal and other matters, Mr. Colin Hardie says,
“There are reasonable grounds for my clients to argue that they were denied natural justice
by the Minister for Mines in the issuing of the mining leases for the Carmichael Mine.
The denial of natural justice can create significant costs and cause distress to Traditional Owners,
leading to a profound devaluing of their native title to land and waters. … “
Traditional landowners running legal challenges against Adani coal project
Adani faces more legal action as traditional owners vow to halt Carmichael coal mine http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-07/further-legal-action-planned-against-carmichael-coal-mine/8100326, By Kathy McLeish, 7 Dec 16, Traditional owners are set to launch further legal action against Adani’s Carmichael coal mine slated for central Queensland.
The Wangan and Jagalingou people claimed the $22 billion project impinges on their native title rights, and would extinguish their interests over 28 square kilometres of land if it goes ahead.
Spokesman Adrian Burragubba said the group was running four separate legal challenges to the project, and vowed to continue fighting. Continue reading
The Wangan & Jagalingou Family Council’s fight against the Adani mine
PART 1
http://www.4zzzfm.org.au/news/audio/2016/12/06/wangan-jagalingou-family-councils-fight-against-adani-mine-part-1
6 December 2016:
“Part 1 “The Adani mine is getting a lot of press after a recent protest in Melbourne rallied for the environment and the damages that the mine will cause.
However, here in QLD the Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council is fighting an extensive legal battle against the mine to protect their country in Central Queensland .
“Brisbane Line Reporter Jack McDonnell spoke with Murrawah Johnson a spokesperson from the Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council about the Adani mine and the councils campaign.
To gain a perspective of how long they have been battling this decision I asked her to tell her story about how she travelled around the world last year lobbying banks so they wouldn’t fund this mine.”
Click the link for part 2:
http://www.4zzzfm.org.au/news/audio/2016/12/06/wangan-jagalingou-family-councils-fight-against-adani-mine-part-2
To promote mining (especially uranium) Australian government trashed the reputation of Aboriginal people
Government had made it clear that it wished to re-engage itself more directly in the control of community land through leasing options as well as to open up Aboriginal land for development and mining purposes.
The plan was to empty the homelands, and this has not changed. However, it was recognised that achieving this would be politically fraught – it would need to be accomplished in a manner that would not off-side mainstream Australia. Removing Aboriginal people from their land and taking control over their communities would need to be presented in a way that Australians would believe it to be to Aboriginal advantage, whatever the tactics.
So began the campaign to discredit the people and to publicly stigmatise Aboriginal men of the Northern Territory
And even in 2009 when the CEO of the Australian Crime Commission, John Lawler, reported that his investigation had shown there were no organised paedophile rings operating in the NT, no formal apology was ever made to the Aboriginal men and their families who were brutally shamed by the false claims.
Sixth Anniversary of the Northern Territory Intervention – Striking the Wrong Note Lateral Love Australia‘concerned Australians’ Michele Harris, 21 June 13 Aboriginal advocate Olga Havnen, in her Lowitja O’Donoghue oration has asked a critical question. She asks what has been the psychological impact of the Intervention on Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory. It is surprising that so little attention has been given to this critical, yet in some ways tenuous, link before now.
Even before the Intervention began in June 2007, government had long planned a new approach to the ‘management’ of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. It was no longer part of government thinking that self-determination and Aboriginal control over land could be allowed to continue. These were the Whitlam notions of 1975 and they were no longer acceptable.
Early inklings of change occurred in 2004 with the management of grants being transferred from communities to Government’s newly established Indigenous Co-ordination Centres. More ominous were the Amendments of 2006 to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act and the memoranda of agreements that followed. Government had made it clear that it wished to re-engage itself more directly in the control of community land through leasing options as well as to open up Aboriginal land for development and mining purposes.
The plan was to empty the homelands, and this has not changed. However, it was recognised that achieving this would be politically fraught – it would need to be accomplished in a manner that would not off-side mainstream Australia. Removing Aboriginal people from their land and taking control over their communities would need to be presented in a way that Australians would believe it to be to Aboriginal advantage, whatever the tactics.
So began the campaign to discredit the people and to publicly stigmatise Aboriginal men of the Northern Territory. Continue reading
Yingiya Mark Guyula is Confirmed as the Member for Nhulunbuy
Court of Disputed Returns Dismissed, Yingiya Mark Guyula is Confirmed as the Member for Nhulunbuy
http://www.yingiya.net/news/court-of-disputed-returns-dismissed-yingiya-mark-guyula-is-confirmed-as-the-member-for-nhulunbuy 1 December 2016:
MLA for Nhulunbuy Yingiya Guyula has expressed relief and satisfaction at the dismissal of the Electoral Commissioner’s challenge to his election to the NT Legislative Assembly
by consent orders sought by both parties and made by Justice Southwood today in the Court of Disputed Returns.
““From the moment it was suggested that I might be disqualified from nominating for Parliament
because of my claimed membership of a local government advisory body called the Milingimbi Local Authority,
I have said that I was never a member of that body,” Mr Guyula explained.
“I did not nominate to be a member, I did not consent to being appointed to the Authority by the East Arnhem Regional Council (“EARC”), and I did not even know it had passed a resolution to appoint me.
In fact when I was asked whether I wanted to be nominated and appointed I said no because I was too busy working in remote homeland schools and would not be able to attend regular meetings.”
“Mr Guyula’s lawyer Ken Parish explained that his evidence was not disputed, and
was corroborated by evidence from other Milingimbi community members.
Moreover, the Electoral Commission accepted in submissions to Justice Southwood that Mr Guyula had attended a handful of Authority meetings not as a member of that body but as a djirrikaymirri or senior elder of the Guyula Djambarrbuyngu tribe. …
“Mr Guyula said that the most pleasing aspect of today’s result was that he would now be
free to focus completely on providing effective representation for the people of Nhulunbuy
and North East Arnhem Land in Parliament over the next 4 years.
“I stood for Parliament with the aim of helping to create harmony, understanding and mutual respect between Yolngu and Balanda people, laws and institutions.
Today’s Court decision is one small but important step on the road to achieving that aim,” Mr Guyula said.”
Tiny outback town divided over plan for federal nuclear waste dump
One misapprehension in this otherwise excellent article.
Residents of Hawker say it has been incredibly confusing that the proposed intermediate-level facility in their community is being discussed at the same time as plans for future high-level nuclear storage elsewhere.
Despite the government saying that many of the jobs and development opportunities near Hawker will benefit the indigenous people at Yappala, McKenzie says they will continue fighting the proposal to the end.
Australian nuclear waste dump divides tiny outback town“This land is our past, present and future and we don’t want a nuclear waste dump on it.”, Aljazeera, by Jarni Blakkarly, 29 Nov 16
While the mountains are named after the British explorer who trekked them in the early 19th century, the indigenous Adnyamathanha people have lived in the region for tens of thousands of years.
This arid and remote part of South Australia has become the unlikely centre of a heated public debate after it was named the preferred site for the country’s first nuclear waste dump. Continue reading
1 This month.
20 September –National Day of Action in Melbourne on the International Day of Peace
Help Aunty Sue Protect Her Land and Sacred Sites From Destructive Rocket Testing.
.
Australians deserve the truth
about
AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 