Aboriginal group lands uranium mining on WA Premier's political...

Aboriginal group lands uranium mining on WA Premier's political dinner table
The Premier of Western Australia, Alan Carpenter, received a political barb from an unexpected quarter for the State election to be held on September 6 when the Western Desert Lands Corporation (WDLAC) - representing the Martu Aboriginal people - gave him a broadside over his dogged anti uranium mining stance

Author: Ross Louthean
Posted: Thursday , 28 Aug 2008


With the Western Australian (WA) media now calling the pending State election a close call for Alan Carpenter, the loss of the high ground the Australian Labor Party usually holds over Aboriginal issues could add to the pendulum swing.

More importantly for the mining industry the closed door on uranium mining - due specifically to Carpenter, a former television journalist - would be opened through a win by the Liberal-National parties coalition, as they have made it clear the block on uranium would be eliminated. WA holds more than 40% of Australia's undeveloped uranium resources.

A potential change in political colours in WA was considered virtually impossible two months ago with the Liberal leadership in crisis, until the then Opposition Leader fell on his sword to allow a former party leader Colin Barnett to abandon retirement plans and take over the helm.

The WDLAC said the Premier's proposed legislative ban on uranium mining in WA - proposed as party of his party platform yesterday - was undertaken without consulting the people it was most likely to affect, traditional landowners of an area of the State that hosts "a number of significant uranium projects."

One of these was the uranium-rich Kintyre polymetallic project, purchased recently by Cameco Corporation and Japan's Mitsubishi group from Rio Tinto for almost $US500 million.

The WDLAC's chief executive Clinton Wolf said: "Whilst the Martu people have not yet had the opportunity to properly consider uranium mining on their lands, we are not opposed to it in principle.

"We strongly believe that uranium mining could be an opportunity for our people to generate equity and commercial benefit and importantly play an important part in the development of significant resources projects for this state.

This is an important intergenerational issue for our people and it's an issue that Martu should be able to consider and make decisions about in an informed manner, especially as a means of achieving economic and social outcomes for a group of people who continue to be under-serviced by the state government."

Wolf said that by proposing to ban uranium mining, the Premier and State ALP Government is effectively robbing one of the most poor and disenfranchised people in this country of the right to earn a living and potentially achieve an equity stake in a major mining project.

"The Western Australian Government has under serviced the Martu people and most other Indigenous people of this State for too long."

He said this becomes even more hypocritical when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised to the indigenous people of Australia and overturned a long-held ban on uranium mining due to it becoming obsolete. (Lifting of the ban, however, was left to the discretion of Premiers, and while South Australia and the Canberra-financed Northern Territory, embraced the proposal, Carpenter and the Queensland Government's retained a uranium mining ban).

Commenting on the WDLAC statement, the mining lobby The Association of Mining & Exploration Companies (AMEC) said the WA government's decision to legislate a ban on uranium mining brings to the fore some of the serious issues overlooked by ill-informed, fanatical activists.

AMEC's CEO Dr Justin Walawski said those responsible for the anti-uranium witch hunt have damaged the future of many of the country's most poor and disenfranchised people by propagating myths about uranium mining, its disposal and the connection to energy generation. "There has been a great deal of mischievous scaremongering on the issue of uranium in WA and

there will be serious long term consequences for indigenous people and WA as a whole," Dr Walawski said.

He said the wider effect of this policy will be to reinforce the growing international perception that

WA's mining policies are not conducive to investment.

"Uranium and other mining companies will be reconsidering their plans to invest in WA today. "This will clearly jeopardise WA's economic outlook and put at risk many agreements between prospective miners, their future customers and the traditional land owners who depend on mining for their future.

One factor swinging political analysts towards a close election was that Carpenter called the election virtually a year before it was due - always an unpopular move with swinging voters - to take advantage of the Liberal Party disarray with Buswell just departing as Opposition Leader. The ALP in the NT also called a premature election recently and went from a massive majority to retaining power with the help of one independent.