FROM THE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS OFFICE
As I sat down to write this article, I turned my mind to what I would have been interested in knowing about the Environmental Defenders Office back when I was a law student. I thought, I could write about the history of the office (it started in 1996), but that’s all sort of in the past. I could write about the offices noble aim of providing access to justice (but that’s too academic to fit in a short piece) I could write about the importance of the environment, but if you don’t know that already, this article isn’t going to change that. So…what to write about?
Well, I’ve decided I’ll write briefly about two of the matters I’ve been lucky enough to work on since taking up my position as Principal Lawyer of the EDO. Hopefully these stories will give you a small insight into a legal role that takes you a long way from the confines of an office building and allows you to meet the most extraordinary people in the most spectacular of landscapes.
Borroloola & the McArthur River Mine
Jacky Green is a Garawa elder and Nancy McDinny is a Yanuwa elder. Jacky and Nancy are two of my clients from the Gulf Country near Borroloola in the Northern Territory. Their traditional lands have been exploited by a series of badly managed mines including the Redbank Copper Mine and the McArthur River Mine. I first travelled to Borroloola in early 2014. Traditional owners invited me there to discuss their concerns about the massive sulphur dioxide smoke plume emanating from the McArthur River Mine waste rock dump.
Jacky Green described it as “a man made volcano”. Nancy McDinny worried about the young people and particularly the impact the mine was having on the waterways that feed the Gulf region. Since that first trip I’ve spent a lot of time in the Gulf working with people on various legal avenues to address the problems being caused by the McArthur River Mine. The trips down there have exposed me to the incredible Indigenous culture, which thrives in this remote part of the Territory.
During this work I’ve needed to utilise and examine a huge variety of legislation including the Public and Environmental Health Act, Waste Management Pollution Control Act, Northern Territory Sacred Sites Act, Mining Management Act and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (Cth). Since the EDO has been involved the mining company has been subjected to far greater scrutiny, both by the Government and the media. As a result of our complaint to the NT Chief Health Officer, Glencore has had to deploy air-monitoring devices to measure air quality at an outstation near the mine and in Borroloola.
Additionally, we have forced the disclosure of previously confidential documents highlighting just how dire the situation at the mine is, with a government official describing its potential impacts as “catastrophic”. We continue to provide legal assistance to people in the Gulf region living with the effects of numerous legacy mines.
Protecting Watarrka (Kings Canyon) National Park from fracking
For tens of thousands of years the Martutjarra-Luritja traditional owners have taken responsibility for protecting one of Australia’s most iconic and spectacular places, Watarrka (Kings Canyon) National Park. Watarrka is one of Australia’s most loved national parks and the setting for the finale of one of Australia’s most iconic movies, Pricilla Queen of the Desert.
For the last six months, the EDO has been involved with traditional owners of the Park, attempting to help them protect the area from hydraulic fracturing and all other forms of resource extraction. The EDO’s involvement in this matter came after continued lobbying of the Northern Territory government by the Central Land Council over many years. The applications under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) (the Act) were seen as the last option available to traditional owners to carry on their responsibility to protect the Park. The applications, lodged in late November, ask Greg Hunt to make declarations protecting the area which can legally be drilled or mined under NT law.
The applications made under the Act required us to show that Watarrka National Park was a) a place of particular significance in accordance with Aboriginal Tradition and b) that it was under threat of injury or desecration.
To the traditional owners Watarrka is a most sacred place. They have consistently said that their traditions, customs and observances cannot coexist with an oil and gas operation in the Park. Watarrka is one of the few places where water, one of the region’s most precious resources, can always be found. Water is central to life and culture in the park.
As the EDO lawyer working on this application I needed to take evidence from the Park’s traditional owners about Watarrka’s significance in Aboriginal tradition. In doing so I was exposed to the area’s fascinating cultural history and its ongoing significance in Aboriginal culture. I was fortunate to be told many confidential stories about the area. I was taken with the young men on a hunting trip. I spent many nights camping in the Park under a blanket of desert stars. It was a truly unique experience.
Working on this case has not only been incredibly rewarding personally, but professionally it has had the desired outcome. Upon lodging the applications with Minister Hunt, the Northern Territory Government announced that it would reject the application to frack in the Park and wouldn’t allow mining in the Park.
The Watarrka case has broader implications too; it is an interesting case study for northern development and raises questions about joint management, the wishes of traditional owners and whether extractive industries are inconsistent with the values of national parks.
David Morris is the Principal Lawyer for the Environmental Defenders Office NT.
