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Legal action considered over sacred site lock-out
Issue 156 - 26 Jun 2008
Darwin
NORTHERN TERRITORY
ISSUE 156, June 26, 2008: Legal action is being considered by a group of Northern Territory Aboriginal people who were locked out of their sacred site by a Swiss mining company and prevented from performing a ceremony.
The elders wanted to visit the "Stinking Turtle" site after earlier in the month losing a legal bid to halt the diversion of the McArthur River, near the Gulf of Carpentaria.
The Federal Court dismissed their claim that the former Howard government did not follow proper process when it approved the $110 million expansion of one of the world's largest zinc mines.
Xstrata is now working on diverting the river by 5.5km as part of a project by McArthur River Mining (MRM) to extend the mine's life by turning it from underground to open cut.
About 100 people from four language groups gathered to farewell the sacred sites they say will be destroyed by the project.
But police stepped in on behalf of MRM and prevented them from entering the mine site.
"Xstrata has now stopped the traditional owners again when all they want is to hold a ceremony at their sacred sites because those sites may not be there for much longer," said Northern Land Council (NLC) chief executive Kim Hill.
He said MRM and Xstrata could be guilty of an offence under the NT Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act.
"The NLC will be looking into this, and recommending any legal recourse to the traditional owners," he said.
"There is a disturbing pattern whereby traditional owners are regularly denied their rights to visit their sacred sites on the McArthur River mining lease, and on the surrounding country."
Mr Hill said this was the third time Xstrata had tried to stop traditional owners from entering the mine site to visit their sacred sites.
He said Xstrata also had issued trespass notices to a number of traditional owners who visited the mine site on May 21.
Comment was being sought from MRM. - AAP
 
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