AUDIO: Aboriginal rights will be eroded as Queensland develops uranium mining
Uranium mining in Australia has removed Aboriginal rights in uranium States and territories. Queensland’s Aboriginals are next in line for this, as Newman government sets up a committee, with Aboriginal uranium lobbyist invited to join it.
‘Nuclear racism’ concern over Qld uranium mining http://www.sbs.com.au/podcasts/Podcasts/radionews/episode/239743/-Nuclear-racism-concern-over-Qld-uranium-mining 31 Oct 2012 By Stefan Armbruster Queensland Aboriginal groups are being warned their legal rights could be eroded as the state moves to resume uranium mining. Queensland Aboriginal groups are being warned their legal rights could be eroded as the state moves to resume uranium mining.
Last week the state’s Liberal National Party government said it would end the uranium mining ban introduced by Labor in 1989. The Queensland government has asked indigenous employment advocate and Australian Uranium Association director Warren Mundine to join a committee overseeing renewed mining.
In other states and territories, uranium mining has partial or total exemptions from Aboriginal land rights and heritage laws. Friends of the Earth’s national nuclear campaigner, Jim Green, told Queensland correspondent Stefan Armbruster it is a bad sign, given Australia’s past of so-called “nuclear racism”.
Nuclear lobby’s Aboriginal poster boy Warren Mundine to oversee Queensland uranium mining?
Warren Mundine asked to oversee Qld uranium mining BY: ROSANNE BARRETT The Australian October 30, 2012 FORMER Labor party president Warren Mundine has been approached to oversee the resurrection of Queensland’s uranium mining industry.
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman told parliament today that Mr Mundine’s appointment to the uranium implementation committee was “subject to confirmation”. – subscription only
Call to Aboriginal land councils to avoid uranium
Aboriginal land councils urged to avoid uranium http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-23/aboriginal-land-councils-urged-to-avoid-uranium/4328580/?site=indigenous&topic=latest Eugene Boisvert 23, 2012 An environmental activist says Aboriginal land councils may apply for permits to explore for uranium because they now don’t have to give permission for exploration on their land.
Natalie Wasley from the Beyond Nuclear Initiative is organising a protest next month, when expressions of interest for the permits close.
The far west is believed to be rich in uranium. Ms Wasley says exploration will inevitably lead to mining, and that the Broken Hill Aboriginal Land Council should have to give permission for mining activity to happen on their land.
“Unfortunately when the exploration laws changed they actually altered the Aboriginal Land Rights Act to say that local councils don’t have to give consent for exploration to go ahead,” she said. “This is a very retrograde move and something that should be very strongly opposed.” Natalie Wasley from the Beyond Nuclear Initiative says it is unclear
who has applied for the licences, but she believes Aboriginal Land Councils will apply.
“I believe there’s been an expression of interest put in but we’re not sure who’s actually made applications until the application period closes on the 13th of November,” she said.
“There’ll be a rally outside Parliament House on that day where lots of different organisations are sending representatives to say that we don’t want any exploration licences to be granted. The ABC has attempted to contact the Broken Hill Aboriginal Land Council for comment.
Negotiations focus on historical Kakadu uranium injustice
In response to recent media reports on the renegotiation of the Ranger Uranium Mine agreement, the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (GAC), which represents the Mirarr Traditional Owners of the Ranger mining area, confirms that talks are continuing. These talks aim to mitigate some of the historical political and financial injustices associated with the 1978 Ranger Uranium Mine arrangements put in place by the Australian government.
The current renegotiation – recently referred to by mining company Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) – addresses historical matters only. It does not consider the future of mining beyond the existing Ranger authorisation. Mining at Ranger must cease by 2021 with rehabilitation completed by 2026. Any mining beyond 2021 would require Federal legislation and cannot be agreed to under present arrangements. The Mirarr remain unequivocal in their opposition to any mining operations at the adjacent Jabiluka site.
The Mirarr await detailed information from the current Ranger 3 Deeps exploration. Mirarr insist on the highest level of scrutiny of the potential environmental and social impact of any proposal to mine uranium at Ranger beyond 2021.
Rio Tinto and ERA as well as the Australian government must genuinely respect and adhere to the internationally recognised right of Indigenous people for free, prior and informed consent regarding development on their traditional lands before any further arrangements are made for extension of the Ranger operations into the future.
Rio Tinto and ERA have gone some way to demonstrating a collaborative approach in their current dealings but the future of the operations remains a matter for the Australian government which has yet to engage with the Mirarr about future authorisations.
We look forward to a positive and speedy resolution to this long-standing injustice.
—
______________________________________
Kirsten Blair
Community and International Liaison
Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation
0412 853 641
skype: kirsten-blair
www.mirarr.net
www.facebook.com/mirarrcountry
South Australian Native Title Services (SANTS) legal case against govt’s discriminatory law
Aboriginal groups to challenge SA Govt’s legislation on oil, gas licences on constitutional, racial discrimination grounds, Adelaide Now, Valerina Changarathil October 08, 2012
THE State Government’s retrospective amendments to the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act affecting exploration and production licenses in the Cooper Basin area will be challenged in Federal Court on constitutional and racial discrimination grounds.
Aboriginal groups representative, the South Australian Native Title Services (SANTS), will file an appeal to this effect in an ongoing matter set for hearing early next year. Continue reading
South Australian government’s contempt for Aboriginal rights
Native title ‘reforms’ slammed http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/native-title-reforms-slammed/story-fn9hm1pm-1226490977811 BY:MICHAEL OWEN The Australian October 09, 2012 THE government-funded native title service provider in South Australia has lashed state Labor for cosying up to miners with moves to streamline approvals in indigenous areas and strip away Aboriginal rights.
Native Title Services chief executive Keith Thomas accused Mining Minister Tom Koutsantonis of adopting an inaccurate and inflammatory position on reforming the state’s Aboriginal Heritage Act, and said the Labor government had revealed its true colours.
“This government has clearly demonstrated its attitude to Aboriginal people with recent moves to remove native title rights in relation to petroleum exploration and production in the Cooper Basin and traditional fishing rights on the Yorke Peninsula,” Mr Thomas said. Continue reading
South Australian govt to strengthen mining companies’ power over Aboriginals
Mine project appeals set to be scrapped BY:MICHAEL OWEN The Australian October 04, 2012 MINING companies are being promised speedy Aboriginal heritage approvals on new projects under a plan by the South Australian Labor government.
Mineral Resources Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the Aboriginal Heritage Act needed to be “freshened up” because red tape and legal challenges by indigenous groups were delaying important mining projects…. subscription only
Aboriginal elders of Western Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (WANFA) fight uranium mining
WANFA’s Elders speak out from Kutunatu Ngurra http://indymedia.org.au/2012/09/22/radiation-exposure-looming-for-wiluna Gerry Georgatos Traditional Aboriginal Elders have never been more concerned about the sovereign risk to Country, and of its very health, with the loom of uranium mining. The Western Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (WANFA), made up of Aboriginal Traditional Land Owners from the Pilbara, the Kimberley, the Goldfields, the Great Victorian Desert, the Central Desert, the Gascoyne, Perth and the South West, and alongside their supporters, have declared “that it is a must do in preventing uranium mining on Country.”
The WANFA met for its annual conference on September 16 at the registered sacred site of Kutunatu Ngurra camp just outside of Leonora, in the ochre heart of Western Australia.
WANFA chairperson Kado Muir said, “(The Elders and Traditional Land Owners) support Aboriginal sovereignty across all Aboriginal territories in WA. The State Government and its industries need to respect the basic human rights of Aboriginal peoples.”
Mr Muir said that everyone is concerned in light of the “fast-tracking of the Toro Energy Wiluna uranium project assessment.” Mr Muir had invited Environment Minister Bill Marmion to meet with WANFA representatives, Elders and land holders but he declined. “He shows an unwillingness to engage with our local Elders and community,” said Mr Muir.
Despite one approval after another, and the dismissal of appeals, by the Government to the prospective uranium miners Mr Muir said that WANFA is determined “to stop the poison of uranium mining contaminating Aboriginal lands.”
Mr Muir said that WANFA will “challenge the Australian Uranium Association’s Indigenous Dialogue Group who are representing the industry rather than a true Aboriginal community view.”
“We will also continue to expose anthropologists, archaeologists and pro-industry consultants who attempt to validate negligent practices of the mining industry.”
“We want our Land Councils, Native Title representative bodies and Native Title organisations to fulfil their legal requirements to be accountable, transparent and representative of their communities views.”
Ultimately, WANFA is calling for an independent public inquiry or royal commission into uranium mining. “We need an inquiry and it will be called for, and when this happens then maybe Governments and the nuclear industry will be forced to stop minimising and trivialising the dangers of radiation,” said Mr Muir.
Western Australian Aborigines fear radiation pollution from Wiluna and Yeelirrie uranium mining projects
Radiation exposure looming for Wiluna http://indymedia.org.au/2012/09/22/radiation-exposure-looming-for-wiluna 22 Sep 2012 By Gerry Georgatos Perth Western Australia Gerry Georgatos – courtesy National Indigenous Times – nit.com.au “They are going to kill our people, some will die quickly, some by a thousand cuts,” said Wiluna Elder Glen Cooke.
“We don’t want Maralinga all over again where our people will be hurt and die sick and young, and for decades the truth hidden.” “If they bring uranium out of the ground at Wiluna and radiation to our people many of our young children today will be tomorrow’s Yami Lesters.”
Toro Energy’s Wiluna uranium project’s final environmental approval looks near certain from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the uranium mine will become the front runner for more uranium mining throughout Western Australia and predominately on Aboriginal lands where communities continue to thrive – for now.
The many years-long ban on uranium mining in WA has been lifted.
Angst has ripped through Aboriginal communities State-wide and especially at Wiluna and Yeeliree.
“The Government has not said that they cannot guarantee against radiation poisoning of our people,” said Mr Cooke. EPA chairman Paul Vogel said radiation exposure for people living near Wiluna would be “very low”.
Yeeliree Traditional Owners and chairperson of Western Australians Nuclear-Free Alliance (WANFA), Kado Muir said all the Elders from across WA who make up WANFA cannot believe the “high risk” claim by Dr Vogel of “very low” radiation exposure risks to communities nearby the proposed Wiluna mine. “There are no genuinely safe levels with radiation – radiation exposure at any level is bigger than exploding dynamite. Chernobyl and Fukishima didn’t get it safe, so what makes us think Australia will? This is our peoples lives they are putting at real risk, not theirs.”
“How many Western Australian communities have suffered lead and aluminium poisoning from leaks along freight routes and from refineries, and it was said risks would be contained but they weren’t? They skyrocketed past base levels and with uranium a thousand times more dangerous, what are they saying? Are they mad? Uranium belongs in the ground, not above it.”
“Don’t our peoples, our communities, our Country matter to these Boards?”
The EPA claim to have tightened conditions around the uranium project after an independent appeals committee made 21 new recommendations after appeals were made by independent groups, the Conservation Council of WA and WANFA and its Elders to the EPA decision to approve Toro Energy’s Wiluna uranium project.
Canadian company CAMECO is also seeking approvals to mine uranium on Mr Muir’s Tradtional Country – Yeeliree.
WA environment minister Bill Marmion said nine appeals had been lodged against the EPA decision in May. The EPA has three uranium proposals before it. “I am satisfied the appeals committee has carefully considered all the matter raised in the appeals and have accepted their recommendations,” Mr Marmion said in a statement. He said he would consult the Radiological Council and the Ministers for Indigenous Affairs and Health
Aboriginal social justice group honours Julian Assange and Mamdoub Habib
By agreement we will be issuing both Julian Assange, via his father, and Mamdoub Habib, who will be present, an Aboriginal Nations Passport that will allow both to respectfully travel through the Aboriginal Nations of Australia. Mamdoub now and Julian on his return to Aboriginal Australia. Both these men were denied any assistance, firstly by the Howard Government and then by the Gillard Government respectively.
Indigenous Social Justice Association September 9, 2012 It is with a sense of pride and complete social justice that this Association has worked with the Sydney Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition to have the privilege of successfully arranging for Julian Assange to be able to be issued with an Aboriginal Nations Passport that his father, John Shipton,
will accept on his behalf at the Welcome to Aboriginal Land Passport Ceremony to be held at The Settlement, 17 Edward Street, Darlington from 11am to 4pm on Saturday 15 September, 2012.
We strongly endorse the words of Ms Linda Pearson of the Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition, see below, on the total lack of support by our Federal Government to assist Julian against being press-ganged to America to face corrupt charges against him for informing the world’s people of the absolute lies that all Governments continue to tell their people. Whilst it is true that all Governments lie, it is well known that America leads the pack in their eternal quest for American hegemony of the world’s resources. Continue reading
Traditional Aboriginal Owners demand consultation on uranium
6 Sept 12, The Walkatjurra Walkabout started at Yeelirrie on the 24th August, led by Traditional Owner, Kado Muir. Days after leaving Yeelirrie, BHP Billiton announced that they had sold their uranium project to Canadian company, Cameco.
Sovereign Union of First Nations is inevitable
Darwin, 3 September 2012 — Two prominent East Arnhem Land leaders and sovereignty campaigner, Michael Anderson, have agreed in Darwin that a sovereign union of Aboriginal nations needs to grow from the grass roots.
Dr. Djiniyini Gondarra (OAM) from Galiwin’ku, George Gaymarani Pascoe, from Milingimbi and Anderson, the last survivor of the four founders of the Aboriginal Embassy in Canberra, agreed thatits success can only be achieved “if our people want it”.
“Dr Djiniyini Gondarra agreed that we now work towards building alliances with our nations right across this continent under our law. He said that when we feel we have achieved this we should all walk to the centre of Australia, Uluru, the Rock, in order for us to become a collective One and thereby showing our national unity,” Euahlayi leader Anderson writes in a media release.
George Pascoe said he was devastated when he realised that Minister Jenny Macklin had raided the Aboriginal-owned treasure chest of royalties in order to fund her Stronger Futures program, “but through their military junta demanded that Aboriginal people sign head lease agreements for 40 years before they agreed to fund housing projects or any other infrastructure projects that are so necessary”. Continue reading
In Arnhem Land, Aborigines show the way to save Australia’s threatened ecosystems
Aboriginal conservation in Arnhem Land http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/
journal/aboriginal-conservation-in-arnhem-land-ipa.htm THE INDIGENOUS PROTECTED AREA program has been remarkably successful at helping traditional owners contribute to Australia’s National Reserve System.
A network of 51 IPAs now covers an area similar in size to Japan (365,000sq.km) and makes up almost one-third of the NRS, which also includes national parks, state reserves and protected private land. Some individual IPAs, such as theSouthern Tanami in the NT, are larger than entire European countries.
An IPA is an area of land or sea that has been dedicated by its traditional owners to conservation and sustainable resource use in agreement with the Australian government. It’s different from other Aboriginal land, because traditional owners will manage it in line with World Conservation Union (IUCN) standards.
IPAs are also developed to maintain culture and bring traditional owners back to their land, as well as develop skills, provide employment and find income sources. Management remains with traditional owners, who are assisted by scientists and business managers to ensure conservation standards are met.
See David Hancock’s images of Djelk and Warddeken IPAs in the gallery attached to this story.
THE DJELK IPA includes coastal landscapes, estuaries, wetlands and tropical savannahs. Its 6732sq.km covers the land of 102 Aboriginal clans and 12 language groups marking it out as a place of remarkable cultural diversity. Read more about Djelk here.
Where: Northern Arnhem Land, NT
Established: 2009
Size: 6732sq.km
Threatened species: Arnhem Land rock-rat, black wallaroo, white-throated grasswren
THE WARDDEKEN IPA, bordering Kakadu National Park, covers an area just one-fifth the size of Tasmania and is rich in ancient art sites, rare plant and animal species, and pristine habitats. Read more about Warddeken here.
Where: Western Arnhem Land, NT
Established: 2009
Size: 13,704sq.km
Threatened species: bustard, northern quoll, black wallaroo, Arnhem Land rock-rat, Oenpelli python
Read the full story on IPAs across the nation in issue 110 (Sep/Oct) of the Australian Geographic journal.
Traditional Aboriginal owner leads renewed fight against Yeelirrie uranium mining
Traditional owner opposes Yeelirrie development http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-28/traditional-owner-opposes-yeelirrie-development/4227384 Aug 28, 2012 A traditional owner is planning to step up protests against uranium mining at Yeelirrie, near Wiluna. Kado Muir says the new owners of the Yeelirrie deposit in the Goldfields will have a tough time trying to develop a mine at the site.
BHP Billiton has announced it is selling the deposit to Canadian-based Cameco.The Minister for Mines, Norman Moore, has welcomed the deal saying Cameco is more likely to develop a mine at the site.
Mr Muir says he is concerned about the change of ownership. “With Cameco in place, it does cause quite a bit of concern for us because they are a company who will seek to develop the mine as quickly and as soon as they can,” he said.
“That just adds impetus to our campaign to ensure that WA remains a uranium-free state.”
Mr Muir believes the public will not support uranium mining in WA. “We are worried about it,” he said. “[Cameco] are up against the wall in terms of time lines and the people of WA have not yet had the chance to voice their concerns about
uranium mining at the ballot box. “There is no broad community support for uranium mining in WA.”
How Aborigines were cheated out of their land in Victoria
The most important outcome of this event was that Batman became the first and possibly the only early Anglo-Australian to formally recognise the indigenous Aboriginal population as property owners.
On this day: annulment of the Batman treaty AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC 27 Aug 12 IN 2012, MOST MELBOURNIANS would be confused if you offered them a handful of tomahawks, a few handkerchiefs, some blankets and some scissors for their land. One hundred and seventy-seven years ago in the rough-shod days of early Australian settlement, however, they
represented a princely sum. And that is exactly what settler John Batman used for currency to acquire the 250,000ha on which Melbourne and Geelong sit. 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.
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PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
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