Victory for the native Australian man that refuses millions from lobbyists...

... to protect its land from uranium mining.

For decades, Mr Lee, a traditional owner from the Djok clan who is the senior custodian of the land, had refused to allow the Koongarra uranium deposit to be mined.



The Koongarra uranium deposit is estimated at about 14,000 tonnes. Mining companies, most recently the French company AREVA, have been trying to mine the deposit for decades despite the opposition of traditional owners.

Koongarra is an area of native woodland of great environmental and cultural significance, now incorporated within the boundaries of Kakadu National Park. Kakadu is located within the Alligator Rivers Region of the Northern Territory of Australia, 171 kilometers southeast of the territorial capital, Darwin.

Good news for the Kadaku National Park, and a great victory for the Nature and the World Heritage, there will never be uranium mining in this wonderful place:

The Australian Government worked with Lee to secure UNESCO World Heritage recognition for Koongarra in 2011, and since then with the Northern Land Council to finalize the legal steps to make Koongarra part of Kakadu National Park.

“This Labor Government continues the legacy of previous Labor Governments of preserving and protecting the environment for future generations. It was Bob Hawke’s Government in the 1980s that protected Coronation Hill and recognised that this spectacular natural and spiritual environment is no place for mining,” Burke said.

“The decision of Jeffrey Lee means that finally the progress made by the Hawke Government is concluded and Kakadu National Park will be complete,” said Burke. “We are proud to honour the wishes of the land’s traditional owners and to protect one of Australia’s most magnificent national parks for our children and grandchildren.”

Now, Koongarra is protected for ever!

Sources:
- Australia Places Aboriginal Land in Park to Bar Uranium Mining
- Kakadu to expand after ranger turns back on riches
- French nuclear giant drops heritage bombshell
- Koongarra gains World Heritage Listing
- Australia supports permanent ban on mining Koongarra uranium
- Victory! The struggle to protect Koongarra uranium is finally over

Just goes to show that the little man can never win against big corporation/TBTB etc ......

....... oh!

S & F

That's great!

Now if we could just stop using the Uranium that we are free to harvest...

This man is doing a good thing standing up but its only possible because of MABO and his High Court Case so I think he deserves a shout out also.

Its more than one person that made possible the aboriginal claims to their lands.

Originally posted by Quauhtli
That's great!

Now if we could just stop using the Uranium that we are free to harvest...

It's not like there isn't enough uranium sitting inside bombs that will never be used. How many do you need as a deterrent? A dozen or so at most?

Before some know-it-all starts yapping about how nuclear weapons use plutonium, not uranium, I'll provide the data on what fissile materials have been used, from Brookings Institution:

104 metric tons of plutonium and 994 metric tons of highly-enriched uranium.

Originally posted by AwakeinNM

Originally posted by Quauhtli
That's great!

Now if we could just stop using the Uranium that we are free to harvest...

It's not like there isn't enough uranium sitting inside bombs that will never be used. How many do you need as a deterrent? A dozen or so at most?

Before some know-it-all starts yapping about how nuclear weapons use plutonium, not uranium, I'll provide the data on what fissile materials have been used, from Brookings Institution:

104 metric tons of plutonium and 994 metric tons of highly-enriched uranium.

edit on 24-2-2013 by AwakeinNM because: (no reason given)

We have so many because of our second strke policy as well as our triad policy. 12 nukes would not cover those plans.