Requests Isaac Council support for First Nation cultural custodians to hold Adani to account and to protect cultural heritage
Senior cultural leader, and prominent W&J spokesperson, Adrian Burragubba, has said that everyone who deals with Adani Mining soon enough learns they are a corporation that can’t be trusted.
“Isaac Regional Council is just the latest to learn this lesson. They could learn from us; Adani can’t be trusted.
“Adani throws its weight around to bully people, threaten people when they dissent, and they are full of empty promises and tricky words.
“It takes a lot for a regional pro-mining Council like Isaac to pass a unanimous resolution against Adani. But Adani has made it clear that if the Council doesn’t get back into line, they “will be seeking the Queensland Government to intercede”.
“As always, Adani, the bravus* of the mining sector, reaches for cunning and force to impose its will.
“We experienced that when our right to self-determination and our explicit rejection of their project was overridden on multiple occasions by Adani; when they harnessed the bias in the legal system and favours from Government against us; and when some of our people were lured with their false promises of jobs and money that years later are yet to materialise.
“Like the landholders and would-be mine workers of the Isaac region, we have been disregarded, and threatened when we stand up to challenge Adani’s appalling corporate behaviour.
“But we weren’t stopped or silenced, and never will be. Our land and our culture are fundamental to us.
“Our continued presence on Country is a stark reminder to all that we are here monitoring activities on the Carmichael project, and we are here to stay.
“We are cultural custodians under our law; and we will challenge Adani and expose the breaches of their environmental obligations. Their social license is in tatters. We will be taking further action soon.
“It is good that the Isaac Regional Council are standing up for their constituents, but we ask them to support us, the Traditional Owners and cultural custodians of the Carmichael area. They need to remember that our land and our rights are most at stake, and they have an obligation to understand our concerns and work with us.
“We are not always on the same side with the Isaac Regional Council, which wants the Carmichael mine that would come at the expense of our country, our culture and First Nations law. But we do know what it’s like to deal with this corporation. It is not a ‘good corporate citizen’, as Mayor Baker says.”
More info: info@wanganjagalingou.com.au
* “Mining company Adani changed its name to the Latin word that means “crooked”, “deformed”, “mercenary or assassin”, after mistakenly thinking that it meant “brave”.” https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/05/crooked-not-courageous-adani-renames-australian-group-bravus-mistaking-it-for-brave