JABILUKA, NT — The blockade of the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine was officially launched on March 23. More than 50 blockaders now reside at the campsite adjacent to the Jabiluka lease area, with 200 expected by the end of the month.
The first days of the blockade have been a hive of activity with communal cooking and shade areas, compost heaps, bush showers and toilet facilities all being built. The site is situated on the Mirrar people's land, five kilometres from the township of Jabiru.
Orientation workshops each morning have involved a welcome and introduction to the area from the Mirrar traditional owners, and discussion of the principles of the blockade. Activists are issued with a "passport" indicating they are guests of the traditional owners.
A broad range of people are at the camp, including Japanese anti-nuclear campaigners, supportive backpackers, and activists from the Wilderness Society, the NT Environment Centre, Resistance and the NT Green Party. A film crew from the Gold Coast has also arrived.
The Stop Jabiluka Campaign in Melbourne plans to send a coach full of activists to the camp every two weeks from Easter. Two minibuses full of people from Sydney and Brisbane have already arrived.
On March 24, an action involving 25 Mirrar and 50 anti-uranium activists was held at the gates of Ranger uranium mine. That morning, Alex Marr from the Wilderness Society in Canberra and Alan Gray from Earth Garden magazine in Victoria were arrested for trespass after chaining themselves to drilling equipment at the Jabiluka mine site.
Announcing the launch of the "people's blockade", spokesperson for the traditional owners, Jacqui Katona, pointed out that "the minister for environment noted over 70 inadequacies in Energy Resources Australia's environmental impact statement [for the Jabiluka mine] yet he still approved it.
"The Mirrar see the blockade as the next logical step in stopping this obscene and noxious proposal. They do not welcome the conflict that beckons, but they do not recoil from it. The Mirrar stand strong together to protect their country."
The office of the Gundjehmi Association, which represents the Mirrar people, has become the temporary media centre of the campaign.
The Murdoch-owned NT News announced the launch of the blockade with the headlines, "Greenies warned 'behave or else'", "War looms at Jabiluka" and "NT town fears violent protest".
The paper has carried articles claiming that Jabiru is about to become a war zone and that "police fear a dramatic increase in road accidents". Its front page story on March 24 began: "Jabiru residents feared uranium mining protesters would resort to damaging their shops and homes". A Jabiru council spokesperson described the report as highly misleading.
A public meeting was held in Jabiru on February 18 to brief local residents on the blockade. Katona said: "Our fight is with Energy Resources Australia and the government; all actions will be clearly targeted to stop the development of the Jabiluka proposal. Residents and tourists in the region are not targets and we will seek to minimise any inconvenience." More public meetings will be held as the blockade continues.