Kakadu

Kakadu

If they're mining Kakadu
Then they're surely killing you
Cause they're killing all the things
You care about.
We will see the wild ducks fly
Across a lemon coloured sky,
When everything goes wrong in Kakadu.
We'll see the mushroom cloud
And they'll wrap us in a shroud
When everything goes wrong in Kakadu.

I love those still lagoons
And the honking of the geese,
The sea eagle that we saw
Just near the Border Store.
Catching barra from the shore
But I know they'll be no more
When everything goes wrong in Kakadu.

Bush turkeys by the road
And agile wallabies,
Bring back memories
Of native cats and possums,
Of buffalo just grazing
Of weekends we spent lazing,
Beside those still lagoons.
Water lilies flowering
Paper bark trees towering,
Reflected on the water
Of those still lagoons.

Aboriginal stockmen standing
Or sitting there and watching,
With the patience of the centuries
Reflected in their faces.
And I see their culture crumbling
And watch their children dying,
Women wailing and men crying.
When everything goes wrong in Kakadu.

They're mining the escarpment
Breaking treaties writ on parchment,
Building tailing dams on flood plains
Bulldozing sacred places,
Ripping up our heritage
Say they're paying royalties
Telling us we need not worry
That there's no need for questions,
Sticking to agreements,
Caring for the country.
Earning export incentive bounties
Making fortunes for the few,
Creating work there for the many
And paying danger money.
When will they realise
That we know they're telling lies,
And that everything is wrong at Kakadu.

John Tomlinson

From GLW issue 292