The end of the Jabiluka Uranium Mine - campaign update

Kakadu sunset at Djarr Djarr Billabong, in Kakadu World Heritage Area

The Wilderness Society has welcomed the announcement that the mine decline (the hole) at Jabiluka will be filled and rehabilitated. The 50,000 tonnes of uranium ore which was brought to the surface during construction of Jabiluka will be put back under ground. The uranium ore has been causing serious and expensive water management problems since it has been sitting on the surface, just as environment groups and scientists had warned before construction began. It will be a great relief for all concerned when the rehabilitation is completed, probably before Christmas.

Wilderness Society members, as well as thousands of people from across Australia and around the world, have supported the traditional owners in opposing this mine. This has been the biggest environmental campaign in Australia in the last 5 years.

Alec Marr, The Wilderness Society National Campaign Director, under arrest at the Jabiluka blockade in 1998

The Wilderness Society's involvement in the campaign has been central and extensive. Campaign Director Alec Marr and Allan Gray (another Wilderness Society member) were the first two people arrested at the Jabiluka blockade. Ultimately, over 500 people were arrested.

The Wilderness Society's Sydney campaign centre and Friends of the Earth's Melbourne office were central to organising the logistics of getting thousands of people from southern Australia to the Jabiluka blockade site. The Wilderness Society was also central to organising national days of action against the Westpac bank for funding the Jabiluka project. The Wilderness Society also organised a group of North Ltd's own shareholders and forced the company to an extraordinary general meeting to discuss their concerns over Jabiluka. This is the first time in Australia's history a company was forced to hold an EGM to discuss an environmental and indigenous issue. The Wilderness Society also led the international campaign to have Kakadu placed on the World Heritage 'in danger' list.

Some of the other main environment groups involved in the campaign to stop Jabiluka were The Environment Centre of the Northern Territory (ECNT), Friends of the Earth (FOE), Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF). There were also Jabiluka Action Groups (JAGS) in almost every major city in Australia. Senior advisers to IUCN, some of Australia's best scientists at ANU and internationally respected archeologists, such as Emeritus Professor John Mulvaney, all spoke out in opposition to the mine. But make no mistake, without the help of people across Australia and around the world this victory would not have been possible.

Rio Tinto - who acquired Jabiluka as part of a broader takeover of North Ltd. - has been far more sensible in discussions over Jabiluka than North ever was. This is a smart move by Rio.

Of course, until the rehabilitation is complete and the area is given back to traditional owners and reincorporated into the World Heritage area, the Jabiluka mine will remain a threat. But now this threat has greatly decreased.