Hundreds march in support of Jabiluka blockade
By Lachlan Malloch and Arun Pradhan
In response to the arrest of nine activists blockading the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine site by police on May 26, Sydney's Jabiluka Action Group (JAG) called an emergency protest march and rally on May 27.
The arrests were made by the NT Tactical Response Group before 7.15am on national "Sorry Day". An hour later, the road between Magela Creek and Jabiluka had been cleared and heavy equipment brought in to destroy the blockade, which consisted of cars concreted to the road.
As soon as this news came through, JAG activists swung into action. About 400 angry people mobilised at Sydney Town Hall where they heard some short speeches then marched down George Street to Energy Resources Australia (ERA) headquarters near Circular Quay. Protesters chanted "Land rights, yes! Uranium, no! Jabiluka mine has got to go!" and "Export Howard, not uranium".
The marchers sat down at each intersection on the way and chanted for several minutes before moving on. Sydney's peak hour traffic was brought to a standstill. Outside ERA, a speak-out was held and everyone joined in an inspiring song for Jabiluka.
JAG and Resistance activist Erin Killion told Green Left Weekly: "This rally was a great success. The fact that we can mobilise hundreds of people, literally overnight, against the bust-up of the blockade shows how much energy and support there is for this campaign. We have all been given a boost in confidence. We will continue to protest until the Jabiluka mine is scrapped."
Sydney JAG meets every Wednesday, 6.30pm, at the University of Technology Broadway campus concourse.
In Melbourne, the JAG and the campaign against the Werribee toxic dump have organised a joint protest on June 5, World Environment Day, with the slogan "From Kakadu to Werribee: no toxic waste!".
JAG has been encouraging people to make submissions to the public environment report on Jabiluka condemning the lack of consultation and the limited scope of the government's assessment of the proposed mine. The demand is that no work be conducted on the Jabiluka mine lease while any commonwealth assessment is in progress.
Daniel Voronoff, a member of Friends of the Earth and JAG, described the plans for a joint World Environment Day protest as a huge step forward for the campaign. "The issues are similar in many ways", Voronoff told Green Left Weekly. "In both instances the government is ignoring the wishes of the local community in dumping or creating toxic waste."
The Mirrar people, traditional owners of the Jabiluka mine site, have been at the forefront of the campaign which has mobilised thousands of people across Australia. Tens of thousands of Werribee residents have protested against plans by the CSR corporation to place a dump near their suburb.
On May 27, the Australian Democrats introduced a private member's bill into the Senate to ban uranium mining, extraction, treatment and transport through or near World Heritage areas, including Jabiluka.
The Democrats' environment spokesperson, Lyn Allison, told the Senate that, "having a uranium mine in a World Heritage area is like having a large industrial grease trap in the concert hall of the Sydney Opera House. There are simply no good arguments for Australia to sell uranium overseas. To use the fatuous notion that if we don't sell it some other country will is like saying we should sell cocaine or the cartels in Colombia will."