The Mirarr Confrontation
The main purpose of my blog is to try and make others more aware of the conflict between the Mirrar Clan and the Jabiluka Uranium Mine. I want to help people to understand who the Mirrar Clan is, what aborigines are and why it is important to not just consider the economic advantages of things such as mining but also to consider people’s feelings and beliefs about certain things such as sacred land.
Environmental Ethics, Justice, and Economics
Ethics and economics are often pitted against each other. They both describe a different value system , but this system is intertwined. Ethics involves the value of fairness while economics involves the value of money. Justice is the tie between these two concepts. However, justice is often unclear; it has a relative meaning to each individual. In the Mirarr example, ethics and economics both play a main role in the disagreement and justice cannot be easily determined.
The Australian Aborigines
The Australian Aborigines are considered indigenous to the continent having occupied the land for 45,000-50,000 years. Impressively, the aborigines have maintained a hunting and gathering lifestyle even in the face of modern times which explains why they consider land one of their most sacred possessions.
picture 1- Australian aborigine
Mirrars and the Kakadu National Park
Mirarrs are known as the owners of Kakadu region. They are one of the first settlers of Australia. They speak Gundjehmi. Based on a research conducted in 2004 , it is announced that only 25 members are left in the clan. Kakadu National park is located in the Mirrars area, Kakadu region. The park is so big that it covers an area of 19,804 km2. The park contains an Uranium mine which is one of the most productive Uranium mines in the world.
picture 2 kakadu national park
Mirrars Opinion about the Uranium Mining
picture 3-uranium mining … no way!
Preservationists: Preservationists are the ones who advocates to preserve historical sites.They strongly care about the environment.They might ask “what improvement to the land would this make?”
Conservationists: Conservationists protects the natural resources, cares about everything about environment including animals.They might ask “how much uranium is being taken from the ground each year?”
Environmental justice advocates: In this case, the advocates care about the environment and also they are mad at the government because they think that the government is only thinking about the economy rather than the environment.They will ask “what benefits does this bring to the people who live on this land?”
Neoclassical economists: They don’t care about the environment. They think having a good economy is more important than the condition of the nature. They only think about the economy.They might ask “what percentage of consumers are interested in uranium and how much are they willing to pay?”
Ecological economists: An ecological economist is someone who cares about the environment. They are aware of the importance of nature.They might ask, “At this rate of mining, how much longer can the mine give uranium?”
My opinion
In my personal opinion, I believe that the earth has resources so that humans can use them but they must be organized and used in a controlled way. The aborigines are also a topic of concern, as the environmental justice advocate would point out. It is unfair to barge onto the aborigine’s land, dig a mine and take all of the money made from that mine and with out giving them any percentage . The companies need to develop safer ways of mining as not to cause pollution in the area. Perhaps the Mirarr people could become involved with this company and begin to employ their people and make profit from the sales of the uranium.
References
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/43876/Australian-Aborigine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Aborigines
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