By Rebecca Meckelburg
Resistance and the "No Jabiluka Mine" media collective issued a joint statement on July 7 condemning the Northern Territory University's decision to confiscate a bus hired by the Resistance Club at NTU for club activities, including a tour of the blockade at the site of the Jabiluka uranium mine in Kakadu National Park.
The bus was hired on June 29 and arrived that afternoon at the blockade camp site. Mine officials noticed the university insignia on the bus and the next afternoon two university staff arrived with spare keys, confiscated the bus and returned it to Darwin, leaving dozens of students stranded 250 kilometres from home.
Resistance, the most outspoken and active political club on campus in recent years, has often used university facilities, including buses, for its campaigning. But the Stop Jabiluka Mine campaign is clearly too close to home for the NTU.
Energy Resources of Australia owns the Jabiluka mineral lease. Should the Jabiluka mine proceed, the Office of the Supervising Scientist, which conducts research into the impact of the mine, will be relocated to the NTU, bringing extra resources to the university. ERA also funds some academic positions at the university.
Resistance spokesperson Sibylle Kaczorek said, "this was a political decision by the university administrators to stop us from campaigning against the mine. They have never interfered in the activities of our club before, so it is clear that they support construction of the mine."
Resistance has been informed by the university that it intends to charge the club for the full costs of confiscating the bus, including the wages and other retrieval expenses involved.
When Resistance attempted to confirm a bus booking it had made for July 18 to 28, members were told the booking had been cancelled. No reasons for the cancellation were given.
The club has asked for the support of the NTU student union executive for a campaign defending the right of affiliated clubs to use university facilities for legitimate club activities.