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kakadu conservation...
Kakadu... Picture by Gus
Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett says he would like to seize the opportunity to expand Kakadu National Park, following a request from traditional owners.
The French mining company Areva wants to mine the Koongarra deposit for uranium.
The site is surrounded by Kakadu National Park and home to the Djok Aboriginal clan.
For years, traditional owners have rejected the company's requests to mine the site, but now they are taking their fight even further.
On behalf of Aboriginal land owners, the Northern Land Council has submitted an application for the site to be included in the national park.
In a statement, Mr Garrett says including land adjacent to the park is a once in a generation opportunity he is keen to see realised.
He says there are important questions of Indigenous rights and natural justice that need to be worked through, and those processes will continue to run their course.
The site is believed to hold about $5 billion worth of uranium.
The Australian Conservation Foundation is urging the Federal Government to move quickly.
Foundation spokesman Dave Sweeney says traditional owners should be commended for putting the environment before money.
- By Gus Leonisky at 29 May 2010 - 5:04pm
- Gus Leonisky's blog
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should not be disturbed...
The Age has now learnt that the Northern Land Council, an organisation that represents Aboriginal groups in northern Australia, has written to federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett offering the land on behalf of Mr Lee.
For years, the pro-mining land council delayed relaying the offer to the government as Areva held out hopes of extracting the uranium on its 12.5-square-kilometre lease.
But despite what Mr Lee, 39, described as “enormous pressure” on him “for a long time”, he refused to be swayed in his determination to see the land become part of Kakadu………..
According to Aboriginal beliefs, the land includes places where the rainbow serpent entered the ground, and is home to a giant blue-tongue lizard that should not be disturbed. It is also said to include art painted on rocks hundreds, perhaps thousands or even tens of thousands of years ago.
http://antinuclear.net/2010/05/29/koongarra-land-to-be-saved-from-uranium-mining/