Traditional owners now embrace mine
Paige Taylor; 14/7/08
Eleven years ago, Lynn Dunn’s Martu people were united in opposition to uranium mining on their desert land in Western Australia’s Pilbara, and to show it they travelled to Alice Springs to sign a joint declaration with the Mirrar, Arabanna, Murran and Gangalida peoples. But today Ms Dunn, a 46-year-old mother of four, is part of a Martu leadership team with a different view of what is possible for the massive Kintyre uranium deposit in the land where she grew up hunting lizards, gathering bush tucker and watching the lakes fill and empty in season. The Martu’s Western Desert Lands Aboriginal Corporation has given its approval to Rio Tinto’s planned $500 million sale of Kintyre to Canadian and Japanese mining giants. Ms Dunn, a member of the governing body of the Western Desert Lands Aboriginal Corporation, has taken what she regards as a practical stance and is not opposed to a uranium mine at Kintyre so long as her people own some of it.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24013840-2702,00.html
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Trade