Protecting country, or extraction
A panel of activists, artists, Traditional Owners and researchers will examine the fast and slow violence caused by the most toxic mine in Australia, Glencore’s McArthur River Mine. The world’s largest lead, zinc and silver mine, it operates on the lands of the Gurdanji, Mara, Yanyuwa and Garrwa peoples in the remote Gulf Country of the Northern Territory, polluting their waterways and damaging the rich First Nations cultural heritage found in the area. Although the mine is set to operate until 2038, the lasting environmental and social impact of this mine will extend for 1000 years after mining activities cease.
The online exhibition Lead in my grandmother’s body, by two of the panellists, artistically documents the historical violence experienced by the area’s Traditional Owners and encourages those who are moved to show their support by writing to Chief Minister Michael Gunner and Prime Minister Scott Morrison to demand action on the McArthur River Mine.
This panel will show how laws apparently intended to protect the environment, in fact facilitate its destruction, and the toxic legacy it leaves behind.
This event was held online on Wednesday 6 October 2021.
Watch the video
Speakers
Jack Green (Warngkuli) is a senior Garrwa leader, artist and cultural warrior from the south west Gulf of Carpentaria Region of the Northern Territory. Over the past 40 years Jack has worked to regain ownership and protect Aboriginal lands throughout the region. In 2005 he set-up the Garrwa and Waanyi/Garrwa Rangers and in 2015 he was instrumental in establishing the Ganalanga-Mindibirrina Indigenous Protected Area. His artworks document settler colonialism and its impacts on his people, Country and Laws and customs.
Josephine Davey is a Gudanji women and Traditional Owner for the McArthur River region in the Gulf region where Glencore operate one of the world’s largest lead, zinc and silver mines. Josie, with other family has been at the forefront of trying to protect their sacred sites threatened by Glencore’s giant mine and massive waste rock dump.
Seán Kerins is an anthropologist who has worked with Jack, Josie and many other Garrwa, Gudanji, Marra, Yanyuwa and Waanyi people in the Gulf country assisting with the establishment of ranger groups and Indigenous Protected Areas as well as documenting the impacts of McArthur River Mine on the region’s peoples, lands, waters and customary Laws.
Kirsty Howey is Co-Director of the Environment Centre of the Northern Territory and a Research Associate at Deakin University. She worked as a native title and land rights lawyer for over a decade in the Territory, including as the instructing solicitor acting on behalf of Traditional Owners challenging the approvals for McArthur River Mine. Her PhD thesis explored the nexus between Indigenous land rights, environmental governance, and development in northern Australia.
Tess Lea (Chair) is Professor of Anthropology and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney. Her most recent work, Wild Policy, explores the relationship between Australia’s militarised dependence on the extraction industry and substandard Indigenous policy responses.
This event is part of the Sydney Environment Institute’s Extraction Series that probes the use, impact and future of gas, coal and lead extraction in Australia at a critical point in our changing climate. This event series is part of the Unsettling Resources research project that investigates the dependence of our energy use and systems on conventional energy and the global shift to renewables. Professor Susan Park, Research Lead on the Unsettling Resources project, will open the event.
Header image: 'Heart of the Country' by Jack Green.