More than 40 people from all over Perth gathered at BHP Billiton’s city offices this morning to protest the proposed Olympic Dam uranium mine expansion and remind the mining giant that there is no social license to mine uranium in Western Australia.
Despite BHP sending dire warnings of protestor violence to its Perth-based employees, the event took on a carnival atmosphere with a cheeky BHPeep Show featuring doubles of BHP CEO Marius Kloppers and Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke.
Part of a national day of action timed to coincide with the BHP Billiton Annual General Meeting being held today in London, the protest follows Minister Burke approving the expansion of South Australia’s Olympic Dam uranium mine last week. The multinational mining giant is also pursuing a uranium mine at Yeelirrie, 70kms South West of Wiluna in central WA.
Conservation Council of WA Nuclear Free Campaigner Mia Pepper said, “We’re here today to let mining giants like BHP know that West Australians will not accept the toxic uranium mining industry in WA at Yeelirrie or anywhere else. We also want to show our support for the South Australians who are fighting the expansion of the Olympic Dam uranium mine project as we speak, including the Kokatha and Arabunna Traditional Owners who have fought against this mine since 1980.”
The expanded mine will require a massive increase in water consumption and radioactive mine waste production and the approval ignores the significant environmental damage already caused from operation of the existing mine.
Thanks to a deal with the SA Government, BHP will maintain exemptions from a suite of environmental, planning, indigenous heritage and disclosure laws for the expanded mine.
Ms Pepper said, “All West Australians should be concerned about the repercussions of this decision. This deal shows that our governments will bend over backwards to accommodate the uranium mining industry, including exempting them from rules that apply to everyone else.
“I like to think that the WA Government wouldn’t be so out of touch as to continue this pattern of government supporting big business over the long term health of the environment and the community, especially considering how strongly people in WA have rejected the huge social and environmental costs of uranium mining.
“In the last week we’ve seen a growing movement globally against corporate greed and power and power and influence of the uranium mining industry is a perfect example of why.
“Nothing about uranium mining is sustainable and further expansion would only lock Australia into an unpopular, undesirable and undeniably toxic industry.”
More photographs are available on request.
For further comment
Mia Pepper – 04 1538 0808
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