Iain Evans pushes for mining ban - ABC news

New push for wilderness mining ban

ABC news South Australia online 25th March 2008

MP Iain Evans is pushing for a mining ban at Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary.

A former environment minister in South Australia is urging a federal ban on mining in Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary in the Flinders Ranges, but is also making his own efforts to achieve a ban.

There was alleged environmental contamination of the area recently by mining company Marathon Resources during uranium exploration work.

MP Iain Evans wants a mining ban.

He says there is federal power to protect the area, but the Government has been inconsistent in its approach to wilderness areas.

"In Western Australia they've announced a major study into protecting the Kimberley region from overdevelopment through mining while at the same time, here in South Australia, the Rann Government are looking at mining the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary and the Rudd Government remains silent," he said.

Private member's bill

Evans is drafting state legislation to end mining in the sanctuary, despite his party voting against similar legislation this month.

The Liberal Opposition joined the SA Government to defeat a Greens bill to end mining in all sanctuaries.

Mr Evans hopes his colleagues will support a private member's bill to ban mining at Arkaroola and says his party has not yet declared a position on mining there.

"They're waiting to see the final detail of my legislation so at this stage the party has not taken a firm view," he said.

"But they have certainly agreed that I should get the private member's bill drafted up so that can be further looked at.

"My view is that Arkaroola shouldn't be mined."

sanctuaries to remain unprotected

Mike Rann's Labor government, and the Liberal opposition, have joined forces to block a bill proposed by Greens MLC Mark Parnell in the state's upper house that would have placed an outright ban on mineral exploration and mining in the state's private sanctuaries

Govt rejects mining ban

ABC news online 6th March 2008

The South Australian Government and the Opposition have voted together to reject a Greens bid to stop mining in the state's sanctuaries.

Greens MP Mark Parnell says he will reintroduce the bill in another form, to stop mining specifically in the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary in the northern Flinders Ranges.

A mining company was investigated last month over the way drilling samples were disposed of in the area.

Mr Parnell says the Government needs to support his amended bill.

"I'll come back with a specific bill just to prevent mining in Arkaroola," he said.

"It's the biggest sanctuary in SA, it's the most important and that's what we need to protect.

"Sanctuaries comprise only one tenth of one per cent of our state and if those areas aren't too precious to mine then where is?"

As Mark points out, sanctuaries are a tiny proportion of the area of the state - but it seems that nothing is too precious to be excluded from the reach of the all-powerful mining industry - not even these private reserves their owners have attempted to establish solely as conservation areas!

And it's also to be noted that despite recent rhetoric from the Liberal Party at both the state and federal level decrying the absurdity of Labor's having ever allowed mineral exploration in the state's premier sanctuary - Arkaroola - in the first place, when it comes to a test they appear to lack the courage to support the principle that some areas simply should not be mined.

One awaits their response to Mark's revised bill with interest.

I believe that former Liberal environment minister Iain Evans - the man who blocked mining in the Weetootla Gorge and had miners completely excluded from the Gammon Ranges National Park (the sanctuary's southern neighbour) - is also drafting his own bill to fully-protect Arkaroola. One hopes that this is a sign that his party will eventually stand behind its own rhetoric.

suspensions, the spriggs - and what nick minchin and blind freddy have in common...

Marathon's operations at Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary are indefinitely suspended.

Premier Mike Rann has publicly referred to these operations as 'cowboy'- a remarkable statement and a damning indictment of the company - and Mineral Resources Development Minister Paul Holloway has told Parliament (13/02/08) 'I have already made it clear that there will be no new holes drilled by Marathon'.

Hooray - great news for all those who love the South Australian Environment!

So why is the company repeatedly claiming it's all just a blip on their radar? Is this just standard corporate 'spin'?

Well, certainly the main cause of any confusion is the Labor Party. Because what Labor haven't done is definitively ruled out a mine or Marathon's returning to Arkaroola. Not completely.

"As we indicated yesterday in a statement, the company will have to talk to and re-engage with stakeholders, including the Sprigg family (the operators of the resort at Arkaroola), before this government would ever contemplate any further activity by the company in this area."

This from Mr. Holloway addressing parliament as part of the same speech cited above.

Now, the Sprigg's were only ever playing host to Marathon in the first place because of the inadequate legislative protection afforded to Arkaroola allowing the extension of anachronistic Pastoral Lease provisions for mineral exploration access into the new National Park's Act Sanctuary (and Class A Environmental Zone).

(It's ironic that so many people are concerned about the relatively minor impact of 'sweeping' Native Title land claims while the mining industry - with the active encouragement of the Department of Mineral Resource Development - have laid claim to the overwhelming bulk of the state! What about this vastly larger - and more intrusive - issue of Non-Native Title?!)

The Spriggs don't want the mine, they don't want the contractors, and if it was up to them, the whole shebang would simply clean up the mess the company has made to date and leave, never to return.

Is the Minister saying the Govt. will only consider allowing Marathon to return to Arkaroola if they have the Sanctuary owners consent? Because we all know that won't be given.

An indefinite suspension predicated upon the Sanctuary's approval - or goodwill - to return is the de facto (if not de jure) end of the Mount Gee project. (Read the letter below)

What a neat way out for a government that doesn't want to acknowledge that it shouldn't have entertained the possibility of mining this - or any other - high-conservation value area in the first place.

But hang on - the Pastoral Lease style access provisions force property owners' hands in 'negotiating' with the mining companies.

Just saying 'no' to access isn't an option. Yes, even in the case of the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary.

Arkaroola don't want to negotiate details of a compulsory access, they want the company gone. The government knows this.

It would be disingenuous, to say the least, to point to an enforced consultation and say that renewed exploration must be acceptable because, look, the company is 'talking to [this] stakeholder'! Incredible, in the original sense of the word!

So, what is the government going to do, Mr. Holloway and Mr. Rann, when Marathon have cleaned up their 22 800 bags and filled in the two 35m long pits they were tossed into, and say they want to return to Arkaroola to dig some more?

The Liberal Party strongly opposes mining in the Sanctuary, and will have a tremendous advantage in the run up to the next state election in 2009 if the Labor Party doesn't act definitively to rule out this unpopular project. Mike Rann knows this.

Arkaroola could prove to be his Franklin River Dam, if, like former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, he's foolish enough not to defend this iconic environment in the face of overwhelming public support for its protection.

It's vitually impossible to believe such a savvy politician would be this foolish!

And yet, until he definitively rules this project out, we have to accept that it might be possible

So, until then, I have to keep writing posts like this one - and the Spriggs will have to keep writing letters like the one below.

Why do we have to devote hours of our lives to trying to halt something even Blind Freddy (in this case personified as crusty Liberal Senator Nick Minchin!) could see never should have been started in the first place?

Ridiculous! Absurd! But sadly this government, which has gone to such efforts to brand itself as 'environmentally aware', currently forces us to it...

Dear Mr Rann

Thank you for your swift action in suspending Marathon’s exploration operations indefinitely after the charges against Marathon of unauthorised dumping of waste and contaminated materials were upheld.

You may remember that we signalled our concerns about Marathon’s operations in our letter to you of 28 January 2008. We were already concerned about a pattern of behaviour that had emerged which, despite the company’s rhetoric, had been cavalier at best and which had been characterised by ongoing breaches of agreed safety procedures and cooperative practices, of which we had advised PIRSA.

Given that Marathon has now admitted to this significant breach of their licence conditions, including the improper dumping 22,800 bags of low level radioactive material and general waste, the company’s actions clearly belie the veracity of their repeated assurances concerning “commitment to the environment” and to “sustainable exploration”. As similar controversial activities have occurred at other sites, eg at Hodgkinson in the summer of 2005-2006 and near the Myponga reservoir in 2006, we seriously question the future credibility of Marathon’s exploration and mining practices. Operational procedures, rigorous supervision and inscrutable corporate integrity are surely required of any company granted an exploration licence in a Class A Environmental Zone. Instead, Marathon deliberately breached its licence conditions at two sites within the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. Accordingly, we request in the strongest terms, that you act immediately to put a permanent stop to the Mt Gee project by cancelling Marathon’s licences and imposing a total ban on uranium exploration and mining within the ranges of the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary before further damage and degradation occurs.

Mining in the heart of an internationally acclaimed wilderness sanctuary is inappropriate and clearly against the national interest. It threatens the unique nature of an area of geological and environmental significance that has been nurtured by the Sprigg family for over 40 years using carefully developed conservation management principles and practices. Allowing mining makes a mockery of Arkaroola’s sanctuary status and its ecotourism credentials. Further, mining will sully the hard won reputation of Arkaroola as an innovative and multi-award winning ecotourism resort, which the SA State government recognises and proudly promotes. Arkaroola welcomes over 25,000 Australian and international visitors annually. Over the past three years Arkaroola has won multiple South Australian Tourism Awards in the Sustainable Tourism, Ecotourism and Major Tourist Attraction categories and was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Ecotourism 2005-2007.

We are sure that you appreciate that Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary is an ecologically sensitive area where any man-made activity leaves a large and lasting footprint. Mining is anathema to its delicately balanced ecology, which is home to several threatened species, such as the yellow-footed rock wallaby, the spider wattle and the bell fruit tree. Furthermore, the region encompassing Arkaroola and the surrounding plains is seriously challenged with respect to ground water. A mining operation such as Marathon proposes (according to the company’s estimates, using 20 times as much water at Heathgate currently uses at the nearby Beverley Uranium mine) would likely have dramatic consequences in this arid zone where recharge of aquifers is erratic at best and where the balance of surface and subsurface water is critical to the survival of plants and animals alike. Finally, mandated attempts to rehabilitate the degradation from mining operations will not guarantee regeneration to pre-disturbance condition, particularly as the effects of climate change are increasingly felt. It follows that mining in the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary will compromise sustainability targets outlined in South Australia’s Strategic Plan.

Premier, we understand and appreciate that SA needs a mining economy to prosper. However, there are a number of other uranium finds and prospects in South Australia that are not located directly in the middle of a wilderness sanctuary and which do not have the concomitant costs of operating in an extremely sensitive environment. Evidence of a backlash against a uranium mine on the Sanctuary from current visitors has already emerged, representing a potentially significant impact on an exemplary ecotourism operation in the future. The cost of losing this unique gem is too high a price for the world community to pay for the benefit of a few shareholders. We urge you to ban mining in the ranges of the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary.

Yours sincerely

Marg and Doug Sprigg

would one of mike's minders please buy him a map?!

Mr Rann denied that uranium exploration was happening in the Arkaroola sanctuary, saying it was in "an area nearby".

Questioned whether he would rule out mining in the sanctuary, he replied: "There's an exploration licence going on right now and it's in an area outside the area that people are talking about in terms of a national park, so the answer is no."

The Australian 21-01-08

So, Premier Rann, Marathon Resources' uranium exploration program at Mount Gee isn't in the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, it's 'nearby'?!

Actually, Mike, it's bang in the centre of the sanctuary, and directly adjacent to - and visible from - the route of the famous Ridgetop Tour.

And the only person who appears to be confused about any claims of 'National Park' is you - though that's the level of protection this area clearly deserves, and the sanctuary's owners thought they had afforded it!

( Though in South Australia even National Park status is no guarantee of safety - the Gawler Ranges National Park, for instance, is literally covered with exploration leases! )

It does look a little foolish defending a controversial exploration operation while not actually knowing where it is, don't you think?

The people of SA do not want a mine in the Arkaroola Sanctuary, Mr. Rann, and you must deal with that. With your facts straight.

Remember: Those wishing to clarify things for Mike can write and tell him what they think: it doesn't have to be hyper-detailed or long-winded, it just has to be polite, to the point, and on his desk! -

The Premier The Hon. Mike Rann

e-mail: premier@saugov.sa.gov.au
Phone: 8463 3166
Fax: 8463 3168

What would Dave say, Mike?

This is a picture of Big Mike Rann, and his mate Big Dave Suzuki, at the launch of the Youth Conservation Corps - a very successful state government youth environment initiative - in 2003.

Rann and Suzuki are friends, and I have little doubt that if Mike were to ask Dave what he should do about Marathon Resources' exploration activities in the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, Dave would reply that they should be halted ASAP, and that Mike should declare that no company should be allowed to mine such an ecologically important reserve.

I could perhaps contact David Suzuki to confirm that this is indeed what he'd advise his friend, but I reckon I need not disturb such a busy man... Mike, just ask any South Australian you meet what they think.

When even such conservative figures as Senator Minchin, Ian Plimer, and Martin Hamilton-Smith are appalled that mining the sanctuary could even be considered you must be aware that the environmental credibility of your entire government is at stake.

Much was promised by, and expected from, your 'progressive' Labor government, but this potential seems to have become subsumed by business-as-usual infrastructure projects and an unsceptical embrace of the mining boom.

I very rarely agree with Senator Minchin, but he's right: we really don't need to assault pristine areas like Arkaroola in order to expand out minerals sector.

Saying that mining companies need to lift their game (Advertiser 19-01-08) is not enough - Marathon needs to be run off the field now!

If you'd like to tell Mike what you think, you can always drop him a line - or ring his office: remember it doesn't have to be hyper-detailed or long-winded, it just has to be polite and on his desk! -

The Premier The Hon. Mike Rann

e-mail: premier@saugov.sa.gov.au
Phone: 8463 3166
Fax: 8463 3168

it's time - marathon must go!

Ugly pictures of piles of shoddily concealed waste dumped in plastic bags. Bulldozer tracks carved across hillsides. The rumbling of heavy drilling rigs. Is this how we see our premier wilderness sanctuary? It's certainly how we're seeing it now!...

We all know the story - all the information any reasonable person could ever need is available below. And now it's on Channel 7 news.

Marathon Resources' exploration program at Mount Gee must halt immediately. The State Government can no longer hide behind procedural technicalities, and pray the project goes away. They have to finish it. Now! Premier Mike Rann must step in, as he did when the same company tried to set up operations on the Fleurieu Peninsula in 2006.

Please e-mail Mike Rann, telling him so. Phone his office. Fax him. You don't have to say much at all - he knows what's going on. All you need to do is get it across his desk.

Just say the exploration program must be halted. Immediately.

You can mention the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary's being inducted into the SA Tourism hall of fame last year. And it's winning the 2007 award for Ecotourism. And for Major Tourist Attraction. And Sustainable Tourism.

You can mention that this exploration activity is being undertaken directly adjacent to the internationally famous Ridgetop Track, along which the Ridgetop Tour runs.

You can mention that Mount Gee is an internationally significant geological monument.

You can mention that in that any reasonable interpretation of the legislation that makes this a Class A Environmental zone this deposit could never be mined anyway (least of all by those who have produced this kind of mess in the exploration stage!)

You can mention that this is your landscape, and you don't want to see it trashed by those who are blinded by dollar signs!

You can raise any number of other points raised below, or by the Wilderness Society, or by the Sanctuary owners themselves.

He knows it all already. It probably won't hurt to remind him.

But most of all he needs to be reminded that the people of SA don't want mineral exploration in the heart of the Wilderness Sanctuary. Not now; not ever. Some gems are way too precious to mine. And way too valuable to account for.

The Premier The Hon. Mike Rann

e-mail: premier@saugov.sa.gov.au
Phone: 8463 3166
Fax: 8463 3168

"Contamination probe at outback uranium site": ABC

Australian Broadcasting Corporation online news 16-01-08 4.00pm-

Alleged environmental contamination at the Mount Gee uranium deposit in the far north of South Australia is being investigated by the SA Government and the Environment Protection Authority (EPA).

Police have reported alleged contamination at drilling holes on the site.

Marathon Resources estimates there are about 43 million tonnes of uranium ore at Mount Gee and is making plans for underground mining to extract the ore.

If the Government and EPA find contamination at the site they can issue a clean-up order.

Marathon Resources is alleged to have wrongly disposed of resource samples at the site.

The company says it has launched an internal investigation.

It is alleged that plastic bags containing core samples were buried just below the surface. An excavator was used at the site today.

SA's acting Minister for Mineral Resources Development Michael Atkinson says the substances are not dangerous but the possible environmental breach warrants investigation.

"The agreed process is that it be given to an authorised waste disposal facility here in Adelaide, approved by the EPA," he said.

"But it's not just soil samples that we're talking about, we're talking about general corporate untidiness, that's the allegation."

The Mount Gee site is within the Arkaroola pastoral lease which has been declared a wildlife sanctuary.