Ben Cubby; 24/11/08
As Australia’s pristine Kimberley region is shown off to the world via Baz Luhrmann’s film Australia, some of the area’s trad-itional owners say it is about to be ruined for good. The West Australian Government plans to push ahead with building an enormous sea port to funnel the Kimberley’s stocks of liquid natural gas and other minerals offshore, and has indicated it may strip the local Aboriginal community of its previously granted right of veto over the development. “The industrialisation of the Kimberley is a continuation of government policy of the past,” said Neil McKenzie, chairman of the Jumbarrngunjul Aboriginal corporation, which administers land close to the Government’s preferred port site at North Head, on the Dampier Peninsula.
See: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/aborigines-angry-over-wa-port-plan/2008/11/23/1227375062039.html
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Human Rights, Mining, Trade