The Social Impacts of Uranium Mining

JABILUKA | THE NORTHERN TERRITORY

All of the social studies in the Kakadu area have found that the negative aspects of mining outweigh any positives. In the most sympathetic perspective, the promised benefits of mining have failed to eventuate.

Mining did not bring alcohol to Kakadu, but it increased both it's availability and the sense of hopelessness that underlies drinking. In this sense, alcohol is both a problem and a symptom; in the long run giving the Mirrar real control over their land and real control over their lives will be of crucial significance in reducing or eliminating the impact of alcohol and other substance abuse.

The study (see left) found that "it is reasonable to conclude that the Aboriginal population of the Kakadu region suffers housing conditions that are as bad as any in Australia." And in education: "participation rates of indigenous students are unacceptably low, access to relevant educational experiences is limited and student outcomes in general are well below those of mainstream students."

The Mirrar see no signs that the establishment of a second mine at Jabiluka will do anything but intensify the pressures upon their community.

Concern about the survival of the clan itself and related clans is not a hypothetical issue. Many of the clans and family groups mapped and identified in the Fox uranium inquiry in 1978 have since died, and others, including whole language groups, have probably passed the point of no return.

- this material was provided by the Gundjehmi Aboriginal Corporation