Debate over Jabiluka campaign direction
By Pip Hinman
In Melbourne on November 2, Jacqui Katona of the Gundjehmi Aboriginal Corporation (GAC) met with representatives of the national Jabiluka Action Group Network to discuss the campaign against the Jabiluka uranium mine and present a new set of directions.
The meeting was attended by about 25 delegates from JAG groups, as well as Katona, Aboriginal activist Gary Foley and GAC project officer Matt Fagan.
The GAC proposed that JAGs become "support groups" for the traditional owners of the land where the mine is situated, the Mirrar people, and that the JAGs shift their focus away from organising opposition to uranium mining.
While most JAGs have yet to discuss the new perspectives, there is growing concern among activists in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Newcastle, Hobart, Wollongong and Darwin about this move to narrow the campaign.
According to the "JAG New Direction" document, which was drafted at the meeting and distributed at the end, "JAG groups are requested by the Gundjehmi Aboriginal Corporation to ensure that their activities primarily focus on directly benefiting the Mirrar fight for survival. In this way JAG groups are requested to adopt a project-driven Aboriginal human rights focus". (Emphasis in original.)
A list of possible projects was tabled. They include: international legal research, geology research, hydrology research, political party liaison team, health and medical advisory team, Council of Churches liaison team.
The document says: "It is correct to conceptualise Jabiluka Action Groups as Mirrar Support Groups rather than Anti-Uranium Mining, pro-Kakadu or even Anti-Jabiluka Mine Groups.
"If all members in a particular JAG do not wish to primarily focus on directly supporting the Mirrar in the manner described above they should dissolve.
"If some members in a particular JAG do not wish to primarily focus on directly supporting the Mirrar in the manner described above they should leave the JAG and allow those who do wish to work in this manner to maintain the JAG.
"Groups which do not primarily focus on directly supporting the Mirrar in the manner described above but continue to operate under the JAG name will be disendorsed and will no longer function with the support of the Mirrar." (Emphasis in original.)
Alison Dellit, a Newcastle JAG activist who attended the meeting, told Green Left Weekly that, while JAG activists were strongly in solidarity with the Mirrar, many were also concerned about the proposed shift in focus from being a broad anti-nuclear campaign as well as one which highlights the Mirrar's land rights.
"The GAC's proposal will narrow the campaign and make it harder to draw in more activists. The Mirrar people need all the solidarity, material support and publicity they can get in their struggle for the right to control their land.
"However, one of the main reasons the anti- Jabiluka mine sentiment is so strong is because it combines a campaign against another uranium mine in a World Heritage area and a campaign in support of indigenous people's right to have a say over what happens on their traditional land", Dellit said.
Melbourne and Sydney JAGs have decided to seek clarification from the GAC about the new directions.
Kim Bullimore, an Aboriginal anti-Jabiluka activist from Canberra, told Green Left that the movement needed a thorough, inclusive and frank discussion on directions.
"There have been differences in the movement about the conduct of the blockade and the movement's intervention in the recent federal election campaign. An open and democratic discussion can help the movement find the best way forward."
The November 2 meeting also decided to call a national day of action on December 6. The proposal won unanimous enthusiasm from the JAG delegates.