Jabiluka campaign moves to the cities
By Pip Hinman
The re-election of the Howard government hasn't fazed activists campaigning to stop the Jabiluka uranium mine. Plans to stop Energy Resources of Australia's (ERA) attempt to mine uranium in Kakadu against the wishes of the area's traditional owners, the Mirrar, are proceeding apace.
Matt Fagan, from the Gundjehmi Aboriginal Corporation, told Green Left Weekly that the campaign had to be multifaceted to force the mining giant and the government to back down. He said that, in addition to the international solidarity campaign, the mine-site blockade and legal action against the mine, there also needs to be a focus in the cities.
The NT Supreme Court has reserved its decision on whether the NT minister for mines and resources erred in allowing ERA to begin construction at Jabiluka before the public environment report (PER) was finished.
In the NT Magistrate's Court in September, Yvonne Margarula was found guilty of trespassing on her own land. She has yet to decide whether she will appeal.
In the Federal Court, a case has been listed against Coalition senators Robert Hill and Warwick Parer for authorising a PER instead of a full environment impact statement on the proposal for a mill at Jabiluka.
"The legal cases, if they are won, would stop the mine only temporarily", Fagan said. "If there is tremendous pressure on the streets, the government will be more inclined to back down."
The Maritime Union of Australia dispute, he said, showed how legal action worked only if it was undertaken in conjunction with "people in the streets" around the country. Similarly, the Franklin Dam campaign was victorious only as a result of the combination of blockades, mass rallies and legal action.
A national day of action against the Jabiluka mine is being planned for mid or late November, and most Jabiluka Action Groups are planning other actions, including pickets at Westpac offices and outside Norths Ltd and ERA annual general meetings.
Public meetings and film showings are also planned.
Soon, Margarula and Jacqui Katona, members of the Gundjehmi Aboriginal Corporation, will travel to Europe to receive a $10,000 Nuclear Free Futures award and drum up support from parliamentarians in France and Germany (the largest importers of Australian uranium) for a boycott of Australian uranium. They will also be requesting support for the October 20 international day of action on Jabiluka.
As the monsoon season begins in the NT, the focus of the campaign in Australia will shift from the blockade to the cities. More than 2500 people have taken part in the blockade, which Fagan believes helped put Jabiluka on the map.
While ERA and the government are making out that nothing will stop the mine, Fagan told Green Left, "ERA still has no viable method of processing uranium at Jabiluka. While ERA has been given official approval for milling at Ranger, under the deed of contract agreement signed by ERA in 1991, the company has to get consent from the area's traditional owners before it can mill uranium at Ranger, and the Mirrar will not back away from their opposition."
Dave Sweeney, an Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) campaigner, told Green Left Weekly that ERA is putting enormous pressure on the Mirrar to agree to having the Jabiluka ore milled at Ranger. The company has spent $20 million over the last two years upgrading the Ranger mill and infrastructure.
While ERA has permission to set up a stand-alone mill at Jabiluka, it would cost it at least another $100 million to get the mill up and running, Sweeney said. ERA also has to guarantee that all the mine waste is deposited underground, something that is extremely difficult and potentially dangerous.
No work has been done on the likely impact that this method of waste disposal would have on the area's hydrology. However, Sweeney believes that, given the need for geological stability around a mine, if ERA buries any more than half of the tailings it proposes to, the mine area will be made unstable.
According to Fagan, the federal government and ERA are increasingly nervous about their decision to proceed with construction at Jabiluka without a workable milling option. While ERA likes to make out that it's full steam ahead on the mine, Fagan points out, "Until it comes up with an alternative milling option, it will not get an export licence".
Meanwhile, the Democrats have responded positively to a call from ACF for a Senate inquiry into the fast-track approval for the Jabiluka mine. Sweeney told Green Left that a May 1997 Senate select committee investigation — "appropriately named the SCUM inquiry" — into uranium mining at various sites across Australia gave the go-ahead to mining, provided it was "managed properly".
This Senate inquiry, Sweeney said, is aimed at investigating the approvals given to ERA. He is sure the Greens will support it, but is less optimistic about Labor's support.
"If this inquiry goes ahead, it could open the window for investigations into commonwealth irregularities in the fast-tracking of approvals for other uranium mines, including the Beverly and Honeymoon sites in South Australia and Kintyre and other sites in Western Australia", Sweeney said.