Kakadu National Park in Danger Australian Government betrays the world The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, July 20th, 1999. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian Subscription rates on request. ****************************** By Peter Mac The Jabiluka mine comprises a huge scar on the pristine landscape of the Northern Territory's magnificent Kakadu National Park. The mine has desecrated the sacred site of the local Mirrar people, and will produce uranium ore with potentially damaging implications for the park environment. Continuation of the project would involve the ore being processed at the nearby Ranger mine, which would of necessity remain in use indefinitely, rather than being closed down as previously envisaged. The joint working of the two mine sites would necessitate the construction of a major new road connecting them. The Kakadu National Park has been placed on the World Heritage List of places of major natural importance. Yet the World Heritage Commission last week succumbed to pressure from the Howard Government to refrain from listing the Park environment as endangered by the mining activities. Earlier this year specialist advisers on World Heritage from Australia and elsewhere were unanimous in their finding that the mine would jeopardise the Park environment and would justify it being listed by the World Heritage Committee (WHC) as "in danger". They pointed out that 13 out of 17 crucial issues with regard to the mine had still not been addressed by the Government and the mining proponents. Nevertheless, the World Heritage Bureau (the peak advisory body to the WHC) failed to endorse unequivocally its specialist organisations' findings that the Park was endangered by the mine. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, the WHC itself went on to declare that the mine would not immediately endanger the Park. The sole dissenting voice within the Committee was the representative of Cuba. The WHC has something of a reputation for dodging controversy. It has traditionally exhibited extreme reluctance to list sites as endangered -- or even as significant -- where there is strong local opposition to the listing proposal. But this in itself is not enough to explain the extraordinary action of the WHC in declaring that the Park is not threatened by the mine. Instead, the answer lies in the activities of the Australian Government. Throughout the protracted negotiations leading up to the WHC findings, the Government carried out an intensive and extremely well-funded lobbying campaign to support the mine proceeding. This was effective at the crucial early stage of discussions on the issue by the Bureau, which decided to break with its normal convention of open discussion by Bureau members and instead held private talks with the Australian Government with a view to formulating recommendations to the WHC. The resulting recommendations from the Bureau, which were notably equivocal on the endangerment issue, were criticised by many environmental organisations. The Wilderness Society commented: "It appears that the enormous political pressure brought to bear by the Australian Government on Bureau members through its multi- million dollar lobbying campaign is working. It will punch a fatal hole in the integrity of the World Heritage Convention if it is shown that political pressure and deals can override science in global forums." The "hole" in the integrity of the WHC is now very large indeed. At future Jabiluka mine shareholder meetings, the Wilderness Society and other organisations will be using the reports of the specialist advisers to the WHC to argue against the decision of the WHC itself. This is not the first time the Australian Government has betrayed the world on a crucial environmental issue. Two years ago, when it was becoming increasingly clear that the whole world weather pattern was changing drastically because of the emission of greenhouse gases, the Howard Government forced the international conference on climate change at Kyoto to accept Australia's position as the only participating nation whose emission of greenhouse gases would actually increase under the Kyoto agreement. On this occasion also, and again at vast expense to the Australian taxpayer, the full weight of the Government was used to bring about a decision favourable to big mining companies and industrialists. In so doing the Government not only contributed to the worsening of climate change but also weakened the resolve of the international community to tackle the problem. The effects of greenhouse gases are now becoming starkly evident. The world weather pattern is changing, with annual average world temperatures rising, and with terrible outcomes such as multiple forest fires and the death of vast areas of the world's wonderful coral reefs. There is evidence of significant melting of the polar ice caps, which if continued would result in the flooding of vast areas of the world's low-lying countries. Most of the land area of Bangladesh and all the surface area of many of the islands of the Pacific would disappear, with consequent mass death from drownings and starvation. None of this matters to the representatives of big business such as Prime Minister Howard or members of his Government. After the WHC finding was announced, then Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer sneered that Kakadu was "overrated" anyway. The sole concern of the Government is that the profits of the big corporations should not be placed on the endangered list because of environmental issues. It is becoming increasingly evident that the real danger to the world's natural environment lies in the infinite greed of capital and its representatives in government. The Guardian 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. 2010 Australia. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Website: http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
