Newsletter date: 11 May 2013
Contents:
* WANFA & ANAWA: Walkatjurra Walkabout: Stepping out against uranium mining
* NITV News: WA anti-uranium protesters begin 250km walk
* SBS Radionews Audio: TOs lead walk against uranium mining in WA
* NIRS: 20-day walk to protest uranium mine
* Walkatjurra Walkabout - Yeelirrie to Leonora - 4 until 29 May 2013
* Background to the Western Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (WANFA)
* Amy McQuire, Tracker: Aboriginal heritage: between a rock and a hard place
* Tracker: Small fine for NSW Aboriginal rock damage
* Nicole Watson, Tracker: Little Black Duck: Mining the truth
* NIRS: New doco to explore boom impact
* Bruce Reyburn, Songlines: Concerns about excessive secrecy in the Muckaty case
* Background to the proposed Muckaty nuclear waste dump
* Other articles
* WANFA & ANAWA: WALKATJURRA WALKABOUT: STEPPING OUT AGAINST URANIUM MINING
- Media Release
WANFA & ANAWA: Walkatjurra Walkabout: Stepping out against uranium mining
Walking for Country: http://walkingforcountry.com/2013/05/02/stepping-out-against-uranium-min...
2 May 13: "This Saturday 4th of May people from across Australia and around the World will be meeting with local Aboriginal people, Wangkatja people, to embark on a 3 week walk from Yeelirrie - WA’s largest uranium deposit to Leonora.
The 2013 walk will be the third walk through the Goldfields stepping out against uranium mining. This year has increased support and growing opposition to uranium mining after the Federal announcement to give a conditional, but not final, approval for Toro Energy’s proposed Wiluna uranium mine. ...
Kado Muir chairperson of the West Australian Nuclear Free Alliance and Yeelirrie Traditional Custodian "Everybody is concerned about the potential for uranium mining. We all want to do our bit - to send the message that we don’t want uranium mining on our country. We’ve fought against uranium for over 40 years. We know uranium is different. Yeelirrie - in my area - is known as the place of death. We’ve always know that uranium must be left in the ground." ...
Marcus Atkinson, walk organiser and campaigner for the Anti Nuclear Alliance of WA said "The walk has been so important in connecting people with the local communities and the environment teaching people that the area is important." ... "
* NITV NEWS: WA ANTI-URANIUM PROTESTERS BEGIN 250KM WALK
- Video
SBS World News: WA anti-uranium protesters begin 250km walk
Source: Ryan Emery, NITV News
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1764182/WA-anti-uranium-protesters-be...
8 May 13: "Indigenous and international protesters have begun a 250 km-long walk to campaign against uranium mining in Western Australia. A month-long anti-uranium walk has begun in the gold fields of Western Australia. Traditional owners and international protesters are walking 250 kilometres from Yellirrie to Leonora campaigning against uranium mining in the resource-rich state. But their march comes less than a month after the federal government approved a proposed uranium mine about 100 kilometres away."
* SBS RADIONEWS AUDIO: TOS LEAD WALK AGAINST URANIUM MINING IN WA
- Audio
SBS Radionews Podcasts: TOs lead walk against uranium mining in WA
By Ryan Emery
http://www.sbs.com.au/podcasts/Podcasts/radionews/episode/266156/TOs-lea...
8 May 13: "Traditional owners and international protesters have begun a month-long, 250 km walk against uranium mining in Western Australia. Their march comes less than a month after federal environmental approval was given for what could become the state's first uranium mine near Wiluna in the Goldfields region, in the state's south-east. ... Kado Muir has met with Cameco and will again, but the company may be wasting its time. "They might be nice people, I'm sure they are, but there's a line that's drawn and the line is no mining of uranium.""
* NIRS: 20-DAY WALK TO PROTEST URANIUM MINE
- Audio
National Indigenous Radio Service: 20-day walk to protest uranium mine
http://www.nirs.org.au/blog/NEWS/article/29162/20-day-walk-to-protest-ur...
1 May 13: "By NIRS/98.9fm: A Western Australian anti-uranium campaigner says he plans to walk three hundred kilometres across country in protest of what’s to be the state’s first uranium mine at Wiluna. Ngalia man Kado Muir says he’ll be accompanied by international and local supporters and the group will start the 20-day walk this weekend from Yeelirrie to Leonora, 250 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie."
* WALKATJURRA WALKABOUT - YEELIRRIE TO LEONORA - 4 UNTIL 29 MAY 2013:
- Current Event
Event: 4 until 29 May 2013: Yeelirrie to Leonora, WA
Walkatjurra Walkabout - Yeelirrie to Leonora
Stepping out against uranium mining
"This Saturday 4th of May people from across Australia and
around the World will be meeting with local Aboriginal people,
Wangkatja people, to embark on a 3 week walk from
Yeelirrie - WA’s largest uranium deposit to Leonora."
" ... we head out bush again for another exciting
chapter in building solidarity with the local Aboriginal
community and growing the resistance to uranium mining..
The Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke gave
conditional approval for the Wiluna Uranium mine ...
and things are really heating up.. There is an International
crew committed to coming for the walk this year and a
lot of people traveling from over East to be here as well.. "
"The walk will continue to be a celebration of Wangkatja
country, a testament to the strength of the community
who have fought to stop uranium mining at Yeelirrie
for over forty years, and a chance to come together and
continue to share our commitment to a sustainable future
without nuclear. It is a chance to reconnect with the land,
and to revive the tradition of walking for country."
Flyer: http://nationalunitygovernment.org/images/2013/gatherings/walkatjurra-wa...
Flyer: http://walkingforcountry.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/2013walk.pdf
Event details: http://walkingforcountry.com/2013/05/02/stepping-out-against-uranium-min...
Event details: http://walkingforcountry.com/2013/02/18/walkatjurra-walkabout-dates-anno...
Event details: http://walkingforcountry.com/2013/04/11/1101/
* BACKGROUND TO THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN NUCLEAR FREE ALLIANCE (WANFA)
Last updated: 9 April 2013
http://www.indymedia.org.au/2013/01/02/western-australian-nuclear-free-a...
* AMY MCQUIRE, TRACKER: ABORIGINAL HERITAGE: BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
- News
newsTracker: Aboriginal heritage: between a rock and a hard place
http://tracker.org.au/2013/05/aboriginal-heritage-between-a-rock-and-a-h...
1 May 13: "NSW’s state-owned energy company - Ausgrid- destroyed a significant rock engraving on Sydney’s north shore in late 2010. The company entered a guilty plea but have only been slapped with a $4690 fine, dodging the maximum penalty in a case that illustrates the vulnerability of the state’s priceless Aboriginal heritage, writes AMY MCQUIRE." By Amy McQuire, a Darumbal and South Sea Islander woman, editor of Tracker
* TRACKER: SMALL FINE FOR NSW ABORIGINAL ROCK DAMAGE
- News
newsTracker: Small fine for NSW Aboriginal rock damage
http://tracker.org.au/2013/04/small-fine-for-nsw-aboriginal-rock-damage/
23 Apr 13: "Ausgrid has escaped a major penalty for damaging an Aboriginal rock engraving after a Sydney judge found there was little evidence of its significance. The engraving at Cromer in northern Sydney was covered in dirt and leaves and not protected by fencing when it was damaged by Ausgrid contractors more than two years ago, Justice Rachel Pepper said. Ausgrid was facing a maximum fine of $220,000 after it pleaded guilty to the damage in the Land and Environment Court, but was instead fined $4690."
* NICOLE WATSON, TRACKER: LITTLE BLACK DUCK: MINING THE TRUTH
- Book Review
agendaTracker: Little Black Duck: Mining the truth
http://tracker.org.au/2013/05/little-black-duck-mining-the-truth/
1 May 13: "NATIONAL: Election campaigns bring out the worst aspects of our character. Voters are encouraged to focus on our hip-pockets, ... Tough questions concerning our future are usually ignored. This poverty of debate has been on my mind since I finished reading Paul Cleary’s disturbing new book, 'Mine-Field: The Dark Side of Australia’s Resources Rush'. ... Cleary is adamant that mining revenue not be given a higher priority than human welfare. His voice should be not only heard, but engaged with, by our political leaders." By Nicole Watson, a Murri lawyer and researcher, Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University of Technology, Sydney
* NIRS: NEW DOCO TO EXPLORE BOOM IMPACT
- Audio
National Indigenous Radio Service: New doco to explore boom impact
http://www.nirs.org.au/blog/NEWS/article/29196/New-doco-to-explore-boom-...
7 May 13: "By NIRS/98.9fm: Renowned Australian author, journalist and human rights campaigner John Pilger says Indigenous Australians largely haven’t benefited from the nation’s economic boom. ... John Pilger told 98.9fm it’s indefensible for widespread health problems to have not been addressed."
See:
WGAR News: Tiga Bayles interview with John Pilger: First Nations Peoples and the new Film 'Utopia' (5 May 13)
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/05/04/wgar-news-tiga-bayles-interview-with-...
WGAR News: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: John Pilger on racism in Australia (5 May 13)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2013/05/04/wgar-news-tiga-bayles-interview-with-...
* BRUCE REYBURN, SONGLINES: CONCERNS ABOUT EXCESSIVE SECRECY IN THE MUCKATY CASE
- Analysis / Opinion
Songlines: Concerns about excessive secrecy in the Muckaty case
http://songlines.org.au/2013/04/25/concerns-about-excessive-secrecy-in-t...
25 Apr 13: "I shall refer to the Federal Court case VID433/2010 Lane and others versus the Commonwealth of Australia and others as the Muckaty Case. Anyone interested in following the Muckaty case in the Federal Court in any detail will fine it very hard to do so. It is a case of major importance as it involves an attempt to solve a problem of national proportions by using the living country of severely disadvantaged FIrst Peoples to store radioactive waste. It is also a very complex matter and not something which can be easily explained in a few words." Bruce Reyburn, Coledale NSW
* BACKGROUND TO THE PROPOSED MUCKATY NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP:
Last updated: 24 April 2013
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-proposed-muckaty-nu...
* OTHER ARTICLES:
- Audio
Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association:
http://caama.com.au/radio#tabs-6
http://caama.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/am-10-05.mp3
10 May 13: "A Director of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, Rod Little says a huge attitudinal change is needed across Australian society to recognise the United Nations rights of Indigenous Peoples."
SBS Radionews Podcasts: Healing project for Indigenous men
By Darren Mara
http://www.sbs.com.au/podcasts/Podcasts/radionews/episode/266354/Healing...
9 May 13: "A project in Darwin is being held for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, to help them in their roles as protectors of their families. The project "Our Men, Our Healing" is being led by the national reconciliation group Healing Foundation. Participants are discussing ground-level approaches to solving social issues in Indigenous communities. Healing Foundation chairman Charles Passi, spoke with Darren Mara about the need for Indigenous men to be role models within their communities."
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