Land Sea & Water

Just after the land used for nuclear testing was officially handed back to its traditional owners in full, nuclear is back on the agenda at Maralinga in South Australia. Those connected to the land are worried that a new Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission announced recently will see the land flagged as a potential site for a nuclear waste dump. The daughter of Mr Lester who was blinded by tests said they want to make a submission to the commission but is worried language difficulties would stand in their way.

The NSW Labor Government sold the iconic The Drip gorge for $2084 in a 2010 lease conversion sale that cost a Chinese coal company less than $3 a hectare. The unpublicised $2084 conversion of more than 700 hectares of Crown land to freehold title in 2010, despite the community raising strong concerns about the possibility of such a conversion at least two years earlier, has shocked and angered groups fighting to protect the area. "They sold it for the price of a clapped-out second-hand car" said Environmentalist Bev Smiles

In an ultimatum, WA was offered $90m, enough to fund remote communities through to 2017. But as of June 2015, federal funding agreements will end, effectively giving WA authorities little time to work out how to fund remote communities in the future - and which ones will have to close. However, the racist government appears eager to continue the genocide of First Nations people and the dislocated people that don't end up slaving in WA's mines will end up in prison or living on the streets in nearby towns.

The Sovereign Yidindji Government under the authority of Jangalan Yidindji make known to the whole world that the Mayarra Nyalalji (Yidindji Police Force) as the primary law enforcement agency of Yidindji, have now been given the force of law to uphold the laws so as to maintain peace and order within Yidindji Territory.
The Yidindji Tribal People now make known to the world that the Mayarra Nyalalji Emblem is used to identify the authority of the Mayarra Nyalalji ...

The Sovereign Yidindji Government under the authority of the Yidindji Tribal Council of Elders make known to the whole world that the Mayarra Nyalalji (Yidindji Police Force) as the primary law enforcement agency of Yidindji, have now been given the force of law to uphold the laws so as to maintain peace and order within Yidindji Territory. The Sovereign Yidindji Government Emblem is used to identify Sovereign Yidindji Government Property and the role of the Mayarra Nyalalji is to preserve peace and good order in all areas of Yidindji.

If you don't know the word autochthonous you're in good company. It means “indigenous rather than descended from migrants or colonists”. It is in the text, prepared by legal advisors to similar movements around Australia, of Whitegate's “declaration of sovereignty and self-determination” of the State of Undoolya. A spokesperson stated the group will have nothing to do with the so-called National Summit for Freedom to be held in Alice Springs next week, run by interstate activists Tauto Sansbury, Geoff Clark and Michael Mansell.

Aboriginal leaders and advocates are warning the "chaos and dysfunction" caused by closing down remote Indigenous communities will cost the West Australian Government far more than addressing existing issues. Amnesty International's indigenous peoples' rights manager Tammy Solonec said there was no plan to help people when Ooombulgurri community was closed down and people were required to integrate into Wyndham or other towns, leaving them "highly traumatised".

Plans by Hanson Construction Materials to expand its quarrying operations could affect Aboriginal heritage sites, including a camp where iconic warrior Yagan is said to have had his last meal. Hanson, a subsidiary of German-based Heidelberg Cement, submitted an application to impact Aboriginal sites so it can expand its Red Hill Quarry, which could destroy areas sacred to Nyungar people.
- 'Can't you feel the sacredness of that stone. You don't need to touch it; just being near it is enough.'

The remaining framework and security of Aboriginal land, protected by the Land Rights Act, is in danger of being dropped into a big hole by Governments, bureaucracies and people who have no real understanding or sympathy for traditional communal land ownership.

'99-year town leases turn traditional ownership upside down', writes Ian Viner AO QC in a paper distributed the Northern Land Council on the history of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act and where we are at today.

SMH reported that claims of price fixing for consulting work carried out on Aboriginal heritage surveys, as well as destruction of artefacts and sites to enable mining development have come to the attention of the competition watchdog.

With concerns raised in July, the ACCC has investigated claims which involved Rio Tinto Coal, Ashton Coal and NuCoal Resources operations in the Hunter Valley.