-----Original Message----- From: Webcentral <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >8 October 2000 > > >Call to put Kakadu on endangered list > >Statement by ATSIC Chairman Geoff Clark > >The deteriorating legislative, cultural and social situation in the Kakadu >World Heritage Area has led ATSIC to recommend that UNESCO place it on the >"in danger" list as a matter of urgency. > >ATSIC remains concerned over the danger posed to the Kakadu World Heritage >Area, owned by the Mirrar Aboriginal people, from the Jabiluka mining >development. We have lodged a submission to UNESCO's World Heritage >Commission in Paris seeking urgent consideration of the matter at its >meeting in Cairns in December 2000. > >The WHC has been asked to send its International Scientific Panel and >Cultural Advisory Committee to undertake an immediate and comprehensive >investigation of the impact of Jabiluka mining. > >Our submission points to recent action by the United States government in >responding to similar threats to the Yellowstone and Everglades National >Parks. In those cases, placement on the List of the World Heritage in >Danger saw a flow of remedial measures and resources including federal >funding for rehabilitation and pollution control and land trades. > >ATSIC has proposed that land under the Jabiru township should be handed back >to traditional owners as recommended by the Kakadu Region Social Impact >Study. The whole of Kakadu should become Aboriginal land by scheduling >under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. > >ATSIC has also strongly urged the WHC to commission a full and thorough >review of Australia's domestic legislation and administration relevant to >World Heritage sites. > >Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a vital interest in 10 out >of the 13 World Heritage properties in Australia yet our Indigenous rights >to land and heritage protection face constant reduction. > >The nation of Australia was founded in 1901 based on the false legal >principle of terra nullius. Australia lacked both a Bill of Rights >entrenched in its Constitution and a negotiated treaty with the Indigenous >peoples. Most of the problems emerging in Kakadu could have been averted >had there been a properly negotiated, binding treaty in place. > >We will continue to fully support the Mirrar peoples in their struggle to >care for and protect their traditional country in Kakadu. > >Geoff Clark >ATSIC Chairman > > >* The ATSIC submission to UNESCO is available under "issues" at >www.atsic.gov.au >* Information on World Heritage sites is available at >www.unesco.org/whc/sites/ > > >Contact: Martin Freckmann 0427 631 045 > > > > ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
