Borroloola traditional owners air concerns over McArthur River Mine at Juukan Gorge inquiry

Borroloola Traditional Owners have expressed their concerns over the McArthur River Mine at an inquiry into the Juukan Gorge disaster.

An aerial view of the McArthur River Mine.

BORROLOOLA Traditional Owners have expressed their concerns over the McArthur River Mine at an inquiry into the Juukan Gorge disaster.

Caves at the gorge were last year destroyed by mining company Rio Tinto, outraging people across the world.

Indigenous Territorians near the mine fear the impacts it has had on the river system, the community and culturally.

Traditional owner of the area Garrawa elder Jack Green explained the negative effect the mine had had on sacred and cultural sites.

He also flagged issues with communication from both the mining company, Glencore, and the government.

“We would like to be at the table when negotiating a deal, especially the Traditional Owners of that country where they dug up,” he said.

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Mr Green, who cannot read or write, in his submission included paintings detailing the impacts and concerns he and other Traditional Owners in the region had.

Victorian Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe used her time during the Joint Standing Committee hearing in to the destruction of the Juukan Caves to clear up whether she had been insensitive to Territory Traditional Owners of Borroloola when she visited recently.

Ms Thorpe, an Indigenous woman, came under fire last month after she made the assumption that the NT Attorney-General Selena Uibo, also an Indigenous woman, was a white man.

Ms Uibo hit back at Ms Thorpe, calling her visit to the NT a fly-in fly-out show and accusing her of being disrespectful to locals by “play(ing) on (her) phone” and dressing inappropriately.

During Friday’s Juukan Gorge inquiry, Ms Thorpe took the opportunity to ask Mr Green if she had been disrespectful and Mr Green told her she was not.

“At least you have the guts to stand up with the mining company and with the government for Aboriginal people at McArthur River Mine,” Mr Green said.

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Originally published as Borroloola traditional owners air concerns over McArthur River Mine at Juukan Gorge inquiry