Traditional Owners concern on mining

Traditional owners of the land around Mapoon, currently held by Terri Irwin (aka Bertiehaugh Station or the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve), are incensed about the actions of Terri Irwin to try to prevent the Cape Alumina bauxite mine proposal on their traditional land from going ahead.

Protestors about Terri Irwin action on mining on Traditional land.

About 35 key Traditional Owners of the land have met at the Mapoon Sports and Recreation Hall to discuss their concerns over recent developments with the and recent actions taken by Terri Irwin in the south of the state to block the proposal.

Access to the property was approved by the Land Court in Brisbane last week, ahead of further legal action later this week between Cape Alumina and the Irwin family company Silverback Properties, over the mining proposal.

“As of Sunday the gates were still closed and a big sign was there, my mother couldn’t get in to her land,” said one Traditional Owner to the Western Cape Bulletin.

Environmental scientists working for Cape Alumina will travel to the property within a week to carry out a three-week environmental survey of an area set to be mined; they will also be accompanied by two representatives of Silverback Properties while in Country.

Minister for Mines and Energy Geoff Wilson and the Minister for Sustainability Andrew McNamara has also been roped into the fray and have both indicated that, if everything is satisfactory, they are confident that a resolution can be found.

However, this is not the opinion of Terri Irwin who remains steadfast that no mining will occur in Country.

It would appear that Terri Irwin is not quite up to speed with traditional notions of ownership of the land in Cape York and recent comments in the southern media about the land being “Steve’s place” have upset the Injinoo Land Trust who are also some of the traditional owners of the land.

The Western Cape Bulletin spoke to several Traditional Owners from the Mapoon community who are disappointed with the lack of respect shown by Terri Irwin, and the way that her objections to the proposal are being handled down south and not involving the traditional owners of the land upon which the Station is located.

“The access is not so good this side and the main road in is closed. She should have consulted with us (Traditional Owners) first before she closed the road without telling anyone; now the only access is closed,” said Traditional Owner Karen Nomoa.

“We didn’t even know about the sale of the land last year; nobody told us until after the deal was done.

“We had a Solicitor and an Anthropologist from the Land Council tell us after it (the deal) had been done. She ought to be ashamed of herself; she doesn’t even own that area to close it.”

Graham Motton, Traditional Owner, told the Western Cape Bulletin: “This is land that we take our families and boys to; she should have consulted with us.”

Allison Sailor, Traditional Owner, said she was “disappointed with this. We would really have appreciated some acknowledgement.

“This is our country, the Pagon People; we own the lands north of the Wenlock River where they want to mine.

“She should have consulted and acknowledged the people who have lived and ate off the land since the 1800 and 1900’s. They don’t know about our protocols.

“Steve was an Australian icon and we looked up to him; we knew Steve and were really sad when he left. He did very dangerous work, everybody just loved him, and he was very brave.

“But now she can’t feel any of our anger and disappointment.

“We are people just like them. A lot of people respected Terri and Steve in the past and we need some respect now to come back to us.

“They need to realise that all land in Cape York is owned by Traditional Owners. She needs to recognise us as the Traditional Owners of that land - the Pagon and Taepathighi people.”

Allison said: “That is sacred ground and she needs to be really careful so nothing bad happens to her family and people.

“Even though our old people are gone they are still with us, and the land, and the reptiles on it.

“The real people of that land are the Miller and Arthur families; Hilda Clairmont, Karen Namona, Cecil Arthur, Lily York, Julie Mairu, Edmond Miller, Nichola and Freddy Motton, Fay Motton, Danny Parri, William Miller, Neville Motton, Heather Miller and Teresa Warusan.”

Erra Bond was also at the meeting and said to the Western Cape Bulltin: “She is trying to throw a blanket over it and that’s been our land for a very long time.

“What if they do something with the land without telling us; they don’t know what’s important and what’s not; what can be damaged and what cannot.”

Mr Mark Annandale, Cape Alumina Community Relations and Environment Manager, said on Monday the Company was aiming to finalise and formalise in the coming month a steering committee of indigenous and traditional land owners to design a land use agreement for its $450m Pisolite Hills bauxite project:

"Cape Alumina sincerely believes the Pisolite Hills can provide new economic, environment and social opportunities for the people of Western Cape York."

"We have met widely and broadly with indigenous Trusts, Councils and Traditional Owner groups over the past three years. Cape Alumina looks forward to establishing a steering committee which will guide development of an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) with us.

"We see indigenous partnerships as being at the centre of our plans and proposals. We acknowledge and respect Traditional Owners of the land we are working on and we want to involve them in our project.

"I know many Traditional Owners are deeply disappointed they were not given an opportunity last year to purchase Bertiehaugh station and the way the sale was kept secret from them.

"We hope through our project that tangible benefits to the community can be delivered.

"Our Pisolite Hills Project may only be on a small part of Bertiehaugh Station, but we see our project being of regional benefit to the community and look forward to development of our first ILUA in Western Cape York.

"The next 6-12 months will be an exciting time for Cape Alumina as we undertake the most comprehensive environment survey of the Pisolite Hills area between the Wenlock and Ducie Rivers and we look forward to updating Mapoon, Weipa and the region during the year ahead."

* Shane Bousen is the Publishing/Editor of the Western Cape Bulletin in Weipa.