'Kakadu belongs to all of us! Stop Jabiluka!
By Wendy Robertson
"It is not the government's decision to make, it is up to us. Kakadu belongs to all of us. It is world heritage. It belongs to the world, not to a bunch of grubby men in suits who want to make deals with the multinationals behind closed doors", declared Chris Doran, Wilderness Society (TWS) Jabiluka campaign coordinator after federal minister for resources and energy Senator Warwick Parer cleared the way for the Jabiluka uranium mine to proceed on October 8.
"We have every confidence that we will be able to make the final decision [about the mine]. As the saying goes: 'When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty'. This is a blatant example of injustice, and it is our duty to resist that with every force imaginable", Doran told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly.
The federal Coalition government is amply displaying its lack of commitment to protecting the environment and human well-being. Its refusal to agree to greenhouse gas targets, and its approval of the Hindmarsh Island bridge, the Hinchinbrook development and now a second uranium mine within Kakadu National Park show up the fakery of its election promises.
Jabiluka is the first of several planned new uranium mines. However, there are numerous impediments to be "cleared" before Energy Resources Australia (ERA) can proceed. It must negotiate with the traditional owners, the Mirrar people. It is expected that negotiation will take at least six months.
The Gundjehmi Aboriginal Corporation, which represents the Mirrar people, has launched a court challenge to the validity of the original Jabiluka mineral lease. The hearing is set for December 16 and could delay operations at the mine for some time. In any event, mine development cannot begin until after the wet season, which ends in March.
Most importantly, there is a growing opposition, touted by the establishment media as "the next Franklin Dam movement".
The Jabiluka deposit is 10 minutes from the Mirrar communities, 500 metres from a major wetland system and, while formally excised from Kakadu National Park, is an integral part of the World Heritage-listed area. The Mirrar have had a presence in the Kakadu region for 50,000 years.
Jacqui Katona, spokesperson for the Mirrar people, told participants at the Students and Sustainability Conference in Townsville in July: "Nothing can replace our country when it is mined. Nothing can reverse the damage to our water systems and our food sources. Our culture cannot be replaced by money. Inherent in our law and culture is an obligation to protect and preserve our homelands for future generations. It is not negotiable.
"We will not be part of any future mining development. We refuse to simply be left to arrange the flowers on the coffins of any more of our mob. ERA is not going to get approval from traditional owners this year, next year or ever. We will not agree to this mine, and we will take whatever action is necessary to halt the desecration of our country, our lives and our future."
In the media release announcing the Jabiluka go-ahead, Parer said, "After studying the extensive EIS [Environmental Impact Statement] Senator Hill had advised ... 'that on the evidence available to him, there does not appear to be any environmental issue which would prevent the preferred Jabiluka proposal from proceeding'.
"In over 16 years of operation, the Office of the Supervising Scientist has monitored the mine's operation and has consistently reported that no significant effects on the environment have been detected."
This is untrue. The Australian Conservation Foundation has documented 96 accidental or deliberate releases of material from the Ranger uranium mine, infringements of environmental requirements and many procedural and production errors. According to the supervising scientists' 1990-91 annual report, the Ranger mine had already caused uranium, sulphate and magnesium contamination of surrounding waterways and wetlands.
Environmental organisations such as TWS, ACF and Friends of the Earth have condemned the proposed mine. According to TWS, the main threat to the Kakadu National Park is tailings. Tailings are residues from the mining process which remain radioactive for ten of thousands of years. There are no known means to isolate tailings waste from the environment for this length of time.
The total estimated tailings output of Ranger and Jabiluka mines will be about 60 million tonnes. The new mine at Jabiluka will place an additional burden on the Ranger mine, which already has water and long-term tailings disposal problems. The extra 20 million tonnes of tailings from Jabiluka may overwhelm the water and tailings management regime in Kakadu.
It is claimed that 164 jobs will be created in the construction, and eventually 110 workers will be employed in the mine. These jobs will last only 28 years, the expected life span of the mine. And the benefits of the jobs are massively outweighed by the risks to the miners' health.
Because it will be an underground mine, Jabiluka will be especially hazardous for miners. Radioactive uranium oxide particles will be unable to escape from the enclosed mine.
Dr Anne Smith, from the newly formed Doctors and Health Professionals Against Uranium, explained to 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly: "Once mined, uranium creates radioactive isotopes which are cancer causing and cause genetic defects in future generations. When they mine uranium, it is milled into a fine dust. This dust is so fine, it can be inhaled. It then gets into the cells and, 10 years later, can cause cancer. So the miners are definitely at risk."
The inhalation or ingestion of only one third of a gram of tailings dust per year (equivalent to the volume of about five grains of wheat) exceeds the allowable dose limit.
But the Jabiluka mine, go-ahead is not a final defeat. Campaigners from FoE, TWS and the National Union of Students were unanimous that the key to the success of the campaign is to organise and build on the community opposition.
They told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly that 98% of Australians support wilderness protection and 80% want mining and development banned in wilderness areas. Kakadu National Park is perhaps the most well-known wilderness icon in Australia.
The environmental campaign has recently become broader to include health professionals and doctors, and church groups. Campaigners plan to involve trade unions and are encouraging the rank and file to join in.
Smith told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly that Doctors and Health Professionals Against Uranium aims "to rally the health profession. We'll get GPs to lobby MPs and to use their positions to educate the public on the medical effects of uranium mining."
John Hallam, FoE uranium campaigner, added that the key to the campaign's success is to "work at all levels to make it so politically damaging and embarrassing that [the government and ERA] have to withdraw ... The only way that the mine can go ahead, if the Gundjehmi continue to refuse to negotiate with ERA, is if a proclamation is made that the mine is in the national interest. It is highly likely that such a proclamation will be disallowed by the Senate."
"There will be a national day of action soon. We want to make sure that it is the biggest one possible. If the bulldozers do start to move, we will be prepared to lie down in front of them", Hallam told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly.
Student organisations are playing a strong role. NUS NSW branch environment officer Rodrigo Gutierrez spoke to 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly at a snap protest in Sydney organised the day after the announcement:
"It will be today's students who will have to live with the consequences of the mine. We want to make sure that the mine does not go ahead. We will continue to organise students as part of the broader campaign to increase awareness on the issue.
"People need to feel that they can be part of an effort that can stop the mine. A national day of action in the near future to show the majority and the diversity of opposition to the mine will be important."
Doran promised that the large environmental organisations would provide logistics and coordination for "a very large presence in Kakadu" to stop Jabiluka.
"The political process is not going to represent us on this issue, as it does not represent most Australians on most issues of social justice and the environment. We also know that it will not be won through the media, since it is controlled by Packer and Murdoch and they are controlled by multinational interests like ERA. It is clear that we can only win through grassroots support. That is how every campaign has been won."
[Actions against Jabiluka are being planned in cities around Australia. Check Meetings, Parties, Anything on pages 29-31 for details.]