Disgrace: Northern Territory Government rides roughshod over the Supreme Court and Indigenous traditional owners
The Wilderness Society (Queensland) Inc
Media Release
May 4th 2007
The Wilderness Society is appalled that the NT Government has ridden roughshod over due process and today rushed through legislation to allow the destructive McArthur River mine expansion to proceed.
On the 30th of April the NT Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Traditional Owners who appealed against the Government’s approval of a massive diversion of the McArthur River. The court concluded that the NT Government acted illegally when dealing with the McArthur River proposal from Swiss mining giant Xstrata, and that the approval of the open-cut mine was invalid.
“This new legislation rubber stamping Xstrata’s open cut mine and river diversion leaves the NT government’s environmental and ethical credentials in tatters”, says Larissa Cordner, Northern Rivers Campaigner for The Wilderness Society..
“The decision to rush new legislation through on the last sitting day of Parliament should be roundly condemned by all Territorians concerned for good government and environmental protection.”
“The McArthur River has important environmental, economic, recreational and cultural values. Long-term environmental impacts associated with the re-routing of the McArthur river and the construction of an artificial watercourse will be immense and far reaching. This includes impacts on the commercial prawn and barramundi fisheries.
The McArthur should be protected from the extreme impacts of river diversion and open cut mining and protected for future generations by its traditional owners.”
For more information, please contact:
Larissa Cordner
Wild Rivers Campaigner
Workphone: 07 3846 1420
Fax: 07 3846 1620 Created: 04 May 2007 | Last updated: 04 May 2007
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