Protest at CRA shareholders meeting

By Linda Kaucher SYDNEY — At a CRA shareholders meeting on December 5, protesters from Bougainville and West Papua support groups with "blooded" hands, questioned the company's role in Bougainville and its future role in the Freeport mine in West Papua. The action was aimed to encourage shareholders to consider other aspects of their investment. The meeting was called to urge CRA shareholders to vote for a proposed merger with RTZ, a company with significant holdings in the Freeport mine. Shareholders were told how a merger with RTZ, which would create the biggest mining company in the world, would give them an immediate bonus, as well as medium- and long-term financial benefits. CRA chief executive Leon Davis described Freeport as "a low cost copper mine" and avoiding mentioning hat over 60 local landowners have been killed there. While some shareholders preferred to turn a blind eye to the company's abuse of human rights and its horrible environmental record, the presence of John Otto Ondawame, an Amungme landowner from the Freeport area, was hard for them to ignore. Ondawame was told by CRA's chairperson, John Uhrig, that "although, out of courtesy" he would be heard, he should "cut his question time to a minimum, because he was not a shareholder". CRA shareholders will decide on the merger with RTZ at a meeting in Melbourne on December 20.

From GLW issue 215