The Hibakusha of Japan, and of indigenous peoples, victims of nuclear testing
the world is still full of hibakusha who can testify to the rippling consequences of radiation exposure on health, family and community.
Nuclear testing hibakusha who have been removed from their home communities have suffered the social breakdowns
They often define themselves in relation to the colonial power that irradiated them, i.e., they are victims of French nuclear testing, of Soviet nuclear testing, of American nuclear testing
The late Mrs Milpuddie and her [Aborignal] family were found sleeping in a bomb crater. The people were taken, stripped and scrubbed. Their dogs were shot. Another family were ordered to walk to Western Australia, and ordered not to leave the track. Obeying those orders, the adults died of thirst. Only two children arrived alive.
Hibakusha: Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Beyond . Dr Bo Jacobs 11 Aug 12, http://www.dianuke.org/hibakusha-hiroshima-nagasaki-robert-jacobs/ Hundreds of hibakusha gather in Hiroshima today, and in Nagasaki on 9 August. Many more will stay away from such commemorations, preferring to spend these anniversaries in private. Almost all of these hibakusha were children when their families were attacked with nuclear weapons: and it is these grown children who remain to bear witness.
While over 70,000 people were killed in Hiroshima on the day that the US dropped an atomic bomb on the city center in August 1945, even more people became survivors of that attack. Many tens of thousands would die in the coming weeks, months and years, but some would live long and full lives. Their lives would forever be marked by this experience. Many have never shaken the trauma of expecting that they would die, having watched their family and their friends die, having
seen an endless horizon full of the dead and dying and the corpses of people and animals burned beyond recognition, and of seeing their homes and city disappear into fire and rubble.
Beyond the epidemiological and psychological affects on the hibakusha, the social impacts were often as devastating. Experiencing discrimination in marriage and employment, many were also plagued by their own worries about whether to have children, and by anxieties that every subsequent cold or flu that they or their children experienced might be the first signs of an impending fatal illness. In a sense the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki never ended. Continue reading
Outback Aboriginal company joins forces with solar power company
Aboriginal people to install solar systems in remote WA communities http://www.abc.net.au/rural news/content/201207/s3556353.htm ABC rural news By Babs McHugh , 30/07/2012 An Indigenous mining company has joined forces with a solar power company to build renewable energy systems in remote Western Australia.
Carey Power plans to train and employ local Aboriginal people to install and maintain the power systems, which will also be rolled out to mine sites.
Minnie King is a Torres Strait Islander who’ll run the company, which has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with an Aboriginal Corporation in the Northern Territory to look at power solutions there.
She says Carey Power will be initially focused on solar energy projects, using panels bought in China.
“We’re interested in looking at perhaps doing hybrids, where there are existing diesel generation systems in communities, looking at installing solar there, perhaps solar farms,” she said. “But in saying that, there are other technologies that we would be interested in exploring down the track.”
Lizard’s revenge: The South Australian government ignores its founding document
The uranium mine is in Kokotha country, but its impact crosses into Arabunna country to extract water for the mining. The Olympic mine expansion crosses the Mashers Faultline* itself, where there is a calculated risk of mining induced earthquakes of severe magnitude.
Lizard’s revenge: The South Australian government ignores its founding document, the Letters Patent from Britain, as though it never existed
Lismore, NSW, 18 July 2012 — The recent demonstrations against expansion of the BHP Roxby Downs uranium mine in South Australia, led by Arabunna Elder, Kevin Buzzacott, highlight how governments and mining companies ignore and completely override the sovereign rights and human rights of First Nations Peoples, writes sovereignty activist, Michael Anderson.
The last survivor of the four founders of the Aboriginal Embassy in Canberra writes: “The ongoing catastrophe of the Fukushima meltdown in Japan is fresh in our minds and the previous disaster of Chernobyl in the Ukraine still haunts us, but governments are ignoring the warnings and, instead, appear beholden to mining industry, in particular the uranium industry.”
Mr Anderson is the National Coordinator of the interim National Unity Government of the ‘Sovereign Union’, launched at the 40th anniversary of the embassy in January.
He charges that the South Australian government ignores its founding document, the Letters Patent from Britain, as though it never existed. Continue reading
Carbon Farming Initiative – a new enterprise for Aboriginal group
Capturing carbon, unlocking wealth for Aborigines BY: MARK SCHLIEBS AND PATRICIA KARVELAS The Australian July 13, 2012 JOHN Kite is at the helm of a newly acquired, neglected cattle station in South Australia’s outback that could soon become one of the first indigenous-owned carbon farming projects in the country.
The 56-year-old from Watarru in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in the state’s northwest has been put in charge of turning the 4900 square kilometres of scrub and rock into a money spinner for Aborigines under the Carbon Farming Initiative, which came into effect this month. Continue reading
Olympic Damn Uranium Mine: BHP’s disgraceful record, and contempt for Australian Aboriginal rights
BHP has shown similar contempt for taking responsibility for the impacts of its actions in Australia. The recently amended Indenture Act which will apply to the new mine continues to exempt BHP from the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988, which applies elsewhere in the state.
It is clearly a conflict of interest to have a corporation with a commercial interest in a piece of land also making decisions as to whether this same piece of land has competing non-commercial values.
Uncle Kevin Buzzacott is an Arabunna elder. Arabunna land lies North of the mine site. The borefields which extract water for the mine from the Great Artesian Basin are located on Arabunna land. The recent recognition of the Arabunna peoples long standing Native Title claim does not give the Arabunna people any rights to contest the location of the borefields. The GAB feeds the mound springs scattered throughout the Lake Eyre region. The springs are integral to the desert ecosystem and sacred to the Arabunna people. They have already been impacted by the water usage of the current mine.
by Nectaria Calan, 9 July 12, The Lizards Revenge was first announced on the 10th October 2011, coinciding with the State and Federal approvals of the Olympic Dam expansion. Since then, Rio + 20 in June this year has highlighted the failure of the concept of sustainable development and the failure of individual governments and the international community to genuinely address the ongoing environmental destruction that has become a feature of our age. Continue reading
Aborigines boo Australia’s Aboriginal Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin
Macklin booed at NAIDOC night 9 July 2012 Federal Aboriginal Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has been booed at an official function in Hobart because of her support for the Northern Territory intervention…..
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2012-07-07/macklin-booed-at-naidoc-night/975600
Aboriginals and supporters march for human rights, land rights
Indigenous march marks long quest for rights, ABC News, By Myles Morgan, July 06, 2012 Hundreds of Indigenous people and their supporters have marched through the streets of Darwin as part of NAIDOC week celebrations.
Waving Aboriginal flags and banners, they chanted and walked to the accompaniment of clapping sticks.
Many were asking for the same thing: “Rights, land rights, equality, the same rights that other Australians take for granted.”… NAIDOC week is also marking 40 years since the Aboriginal tent embassy was set up at Old Parliament House in Canberra. NAIDOC week is also marking 40 years since the Aboriginal tent embassy was set up at Old Parliament House in Canberra…. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-06/naidoc-week-march-darwin-city-streets/4114680?section=nt
Support grows for Aboriginal traditional owners’ legal battle to stop Muckaty nuclear waste dump
Muckaty traditional owners fight Ferguson’s nuclear dump, July 3, 2012, Jim Green, Four Muckaty traditional owners — Penny Phillips, Jeannie Sambo, Kylie Sambo and Delvine Spiteri — visited Melbourne on June 25 to attend a federal court hearing concerning the nomination of Muckaty, 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, for a national nuclear waste dump.
Legal proceedings against the federal government and the Northern Land Council began in June 2010 and a trial is anticipated in the first half of 2013. A small group of traditional owners support the dump proposal, in return for a financial package. But most are opposed and are challenging the right of the government to establish the dump at Muckaty without their consent.
Legislation pushed through parliament by federal resources minister Martin Ferguson — the National Radioactive Waste Management Act — allows for the imposition of a dump without consultation with or consent from traditional owners. In a previous federal court hearing, lawyers for the Commonwealth argued that the Muckaty nomination was valid even if the wrong traditional owners were consulted.
The most pressing issue for the government is the return of spent nuclear fuel reprocessed waste from France and Scotland in coming years. The government is aware that its Muckaty plan is unravelling and has moved to firm up an alternative plan — interim storage of the reprocessing waste at the Lucas Heights nuclear research reactor site south of Sydney, from where the spent fuel originated. Plans are in train to increase storage capacity at Lucas Heights.
Trade unions & emergency services
Some of Australia’s most powerful unions have pledged support for the campaign. The Maritime Union of Australia’s Victorian Secretary, Kevin Bracken, attended a media event with traditional owners after the June 25 court hearing, and traditional owners briefed MUA members the following day.
In Darwin, the MUA is organising a protest at Stokes Hill Wharf on July 12, marking seven years since the NT was first targeted for a nuclear waste dump. The MUA is sending delegates from around the country to attend this event.
In May, the Australian Council of Trade Unions Congress passed a resolution expressing disappointment that the Muckaty site will continue to be pursued under the National Radioactive Waste Management Act. It affirmed that the ACTU “stands in solidarity with traditional owners and communities resisting federal government plans for a radioactive waste dump and commits to supporting trade unions refusing to cooperate with implementation of the policy.”
The ACTU Congress resolution further states that “the recent application by ANSTO for reprocessed spent fuel waste to return to the Lucas Heights facility in Sydney and acknowledges this as an opportunity to review radioactive waste management in Australia by conducting an independent and comprehensive public commission into all aspects radioactive waste transport, storage and management in Australia”…… www.greenleft.org.au/node/51545
Australia’s Aborigines still being deceived out of their land – but they are fighting back
the main advocacy that we’re focusing on of course is still land rights. … Aboriginal people feel that they are still being deceived in terms of land.
Q&A: Aboriginal rights then and now SBS World News Q&A between Michael and SBS Online Producer Chiara Pazzano 28 JUN 2012, 40 years on, the last surviving founder of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy says Indigenous Australians are still being deceived over their land.
Michael Anderson is the leader of the Euahlayi people of northern New South Wales and the last surviving of the four founders of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra.
Since that historic moment in 1972, he’s been a high-profile fighter for Aboriginal rights, but in a new interview with SBS for NAIDOC Week, he says while much has changed, Indigenous Australians are still
being deceived over their land……
Question: What are the main things that the Aboriginal Tent Embassy is advocating for now? Continue reading
“Stronger Futures” – discriminatory laws condemned by Aborigines and human rights groups
“We want an end to the intervention, we want to have control back over our lives, we want control back over our land and our communities.
Stronger Futures laws condemned after passing Senate ABC Radio Australia 29 June 2012 Indigenous and human rights groups have condemned the Senate’s rushed passing of new laws extending the intervention in remote Northern Territory areas.
It has been nearly five years since John Howard brought in the original policy.
Today’s passing of the Stronger Futures laws mean the current measures
will mostly continue for another 10 years. Continue reading
Australian govt really getting Aborigines off their homelands – it’s all about assimilation
Q&A: Aboriginal rights then and now SBS World News Q&A between Michael and SBS Online Producer Chiara Pazzano 28 JUN 2012“……..What’s happening now with the Northern Territory Homelands policy after the Federal Government injected money to keep these communities living on their lands?
Michael Anderson Well, it’s nice in words but in practice it’s not possible because the government is screaming about the fact that we can’t put the infrastructure into those places, into those isolated communities, which is a lot of bunkem.
You don’t have to put telegraph poles and electricity poles out to community, they can put up solar farms and
these solar farms will generate all the power they need for those communities. You know they can get out there and all they need is to connect water tanks to their homes, they can drill down to bores that are on a lot of those homelands and they will supply water. They can also set up horticultural programs in those communities where they can become self-sufficient.
This relocating is all about assimilation, nothing more…..
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1663862/Q&A:-Aboriginal-rights-then-and-now
Australia’s Labor and Liberal parties unite to pass discriminatory law against Aborigines
Indigenous leader Dr Djiniyini Gondarra from East Arnhem Land and Rosalie Kunoth Monks from Central Australia have jointly declared a day of mourning for Aboriginal people following the passing of the laws.
Former Family Court chief justice Alastair Nicholson said the government’s use of special measures could fail a High Court challenge. He said Ms Macklin’s response was ‘entirely predictable’ and maintained the consultation process had been a ‘travesty’.
Day of mourning for cont NT intervention Big Pond News, June 29, 2012 Aboriginal leaders will hold a day of mourning after federal parliament passed legislation to continue the Northern Territory intervention for another 10 years.
Labor and the opposition teamed up to pass the controversial laws in the Senate in the early hours of Friday morning after a marathon debate, which started early Thursday evening.
The laws were amended to reduce the review period from seven to three years. Attempts by the Greens to heavily amend the laws, including cutting the sunset clause from 10 to five years, were defeated.
The Greens accused the government of sneaking the laws through in the shadow of the media storm over asylum seekers on the final day before parliament’s winter break. Continue reading
Senate approves Aboriginal intervention by 10 years BY: PATRICIA KARVELAS The Australian June 29, 2012 The government’s radical 10-year extension of the Northern Territory intervention has passed the Senate after a long overnight debate….. Most measures in the Stronger Futures legislation will be in place for 10 years Continue reading
Aboriginal and solar firms join in outback solar projects
Indigenous firm eyes solar power http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/-/wa/14049902/indigenous-firm-eyes-solar-power/ Peter Williams, The West Australian June 27, 2012, A new indigenous-controlled energy company has plans to build solar power systems in regional areas as big as any existing projects in Australia.
Carey Power, a joint venture between indigenous-owned mining services provider Carey Mining and Perth solar energy specialist Next Power, is targeting mine camps as well as remote communities and local governments.
Next Power chief executive and Carey Power executive director Kieron D’Arcy said Carey Power planned to install systems of up to 10 megawatts, equal to the size of the nation’s biggest solar plant being built in the Mid West. Continue reading
Aboriginal elder’s legal battle to stop giant uranium mine
Elder continues fight against SA mine 9 News, 19 June 12, Aboriginal elder Kevin Buzzacott is pushing ahead with his bid to block the giant expansion of the Olympic Dam copper, uranium and gold mine in South Australia after an initial court decision went against him.
The Federal Court ruled in April that the commonwealth had properly taken into account the long-term impact of the mine, rejecting Mr Buzzacott’s argument that federal Environment Minister Tony Burke had not given enough consideration to the risks posed by storage of radioactive tailings at the site in SA’s north.
Mr Buzzacott has appealed against the court’s decision and a hearing has been scheduled for Thursday. Grounds for the appeal include an argument that Justice Anthony Besanko was mistaken in ruling that the minister did not need to consider existing conditions imposed by the state government on water extraction for the mine from the Great Artesian Basin.
The Arabunna elder also argues the approval was uncertain because so much of the project was left to be defined by studies and plans that were yet to be completed.
Mr Buzzacott said he was hoping for a “better result this time round”. “We hope that the three judges that will hear the appeal will seriously reconsider Justice Besanko’s interpretation of our argument,” he said in a statement……
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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