Adani says it is negotiating with Indigenous people over coalmine
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Version 0 of 1. The Indian coal giant Adani has rejected claims Indigenous groups do not want a $16.5bn mine built on their traditional lands. On Thursday representatives of the Wangan and Jagalingou people (W&J)presented a “declaration of defence of country” to the new speaker of the Queensland parliament, Peter Wellington. Adani’s Carmichael mine in the state’s Galilee basin will be linked to the Abbot Point coal terminal, north of Bowen, by a 300km rail line approved by the state government last year. About 100m tonnes of coal will pass along the railway every year if it goes ahead. W&J spokesman Adrian Burragubba called on the new premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, to rule out compulsorily acquiring his people’s land. He said the W&J people had rejected an Indigenous land use agreement with Adani. “We will take no ‘shut up’ money,” Burragubba said. “We will protect and defend our country and our connection to our lands.” Related: Aboriginal group fights to stop $16bn Carmichael coalmine, Australia’s largest But Adani said Burragubba was not authorised to speak on behalf of W&J and the company was “dealing with all of the duly authorised representatives”. “Adani does not believe that the W&J don’t want this mine, as the W&J have been and continue to be actively involved in negotiations around delivery of the mine on terms acceptable to the W&J,” a spokesman said. “Adani respects the W&J’s cultural heritage and can confirm it has been working closely with the W&J since 6 September 2011 under a cultural heritage management plan agreed with the W&J.” Burragubba said he was offended by the comments and spoke on behalf of the majority of W&J people. “I am from there – I’m from nowhere else,” he said. “It’s an insult to me, because what they’re doing is undermining our decision-making process. “The decision has been made – no means no.” The project also faces a legal challenge in Queensland’s land and environment court next week, which will hear from environmentalists, ground and water experts, Indigenous representatives and economists. The Department of Natural Resources and Mines said the W&J’s native title claim overlapped with land that was subject to another claim lodged by the Bidjara people. This prevented the government from giving its consent to the W&J claim, it said. The W&J claim was lodged in 2004 – more than eight years before the Bidjara claim. But late last year, the department told the W&J people their claim could not progress until the overlapping issue was resolved between the two groups. “If claimant groups cannot resolve the issues, the federal court of Australia will test the matters through a trial process,” a spokesperson said. |