Skip to main content

Gandhi 'insulted'? Australian court order bans indigenous people from Adani land

Counterview Desk
The Wangan & Jagalingou (W&J) Council, claiming to represent the indigenous people of the Queensland, where the powerful Indian industrial house Adani has begun to implement a $16 billion project, has complained that claiming the "First Nations land owners" are being "banned" from their own country.
Quoting a top Australian media story  the W&J Council regrets in a statement that Adani Mining "engaged a private investigator and equipped security guards with body cameras as part of obtaining a Supreme Court order", adding the "interim injunction specifically bans First Nations land owners, Adrian Burragubba and Coedie McAvoy from returning to the ceremonial site."
Asserting that it would "prevent" all other W&J Family Council members from exercising their rights and practicing their culture on that land without Adani’s “permission”, the statement says, “We will not be bullied into submission by Adani, who doesn’t know the first thing about First Nations laws and customs and hides behind the power of a colonial property law system."

Text:

An ABC News report this morning shows that Adani made legal moves to expose two W&J land owners to possible jail time if they return to a ceremonial camp on the company's Carmichael mine site. The report says Adani Mining engaged a private investigator and equipped security guards with body cameras as part of obtaining a Supreme Court order.
Adani’s interim injunction specifically bans First Nations land owners, Adrian Burragubba and Coedie McAvoy, from returning to the ceremonial site on the area where native title was recently extinguished by the Queensland Government for the mining company. It would prevent all other W&J Family Council members from exercising their rights and practicing their culture on that land without Adani’s “permission”.
The W&J Council says this move continues the attack on its people for opposing the destruction that Adani’s mine would cause to their ancestral lands and waters, and denies them their fundamental rights.
Wangan & Jagalingou cultural leader and Council spokesperson, Adrian Burragubba, says: Adani continues to harass and denigrate us through the courts and the media. We are not protestors and activists; we are First Nations land owners practicing our laws and customs on our country. We are the people from that land that Adani wants to destroy with its Carmichael Mine. We are standing up for our international law rights as Indigenous people and holding Adani to account”.
A W&J dance
“Our intention was and still is to make peace with the Ancestors in a solemn spiritual ceremony, practicing law and custom, before Adani’s destruction commences. We won’t be asking Adani’s permission to practice our culture. We will continue to exercise our individual native title rights and push harder for proper recognition of our peoples’ original sovereignty.
“Until this recognition occurs and is reflected in our legal rights, we will remain exposed to State and mining industry predation upon our ancestral lands and waters.
“The land area that Adani intends to exclude us from is where we held our ceremonial camp in August. The area was Unallocated Crown Land at the time but the State, without prior notice, extinguished our native title and gave Adani freehold control.
“We know what that means under the Australian property law system, and we don’t intend to be played by Adani into a situation where we face police action, contempt of court, and imprisonment. Nor will we be engaging Adani in the court on this matter. Adani’s case is a ruse. They are trying to drag us into more costs, waste our time, and minimise our claim to the land”, he said.
The W&J Council says that the Government failed its people in the first place. They say it is the State’s long-term policy to open up the Galilee Basin, and that policy never involved First Nations consultation and consent in keeping with their rights.
Mr Burragubba says: “The State wants to exploit our country for coal revenues and has enabled and backed Adani. This Government is now being used by Adani to extinguish our property rights and cultural sovereignty and guarantee the corporation’s interests against us.
“There has never been genuine free, prior, informed consent for Adani’s destructive mine. As a First Nations people we’ve been subjected to legalised racial discrimination. The Native Title system does not allow us to say no to mining projects. It denies us our rights and usurps our laws and customs. It has coerced our people into a mining land use agreement, which misrepresents what our people really choose and masks the destruction this coal mine will have on our beautiful country and culture.
“We will not be bullied into submission by Adani, who doesn’t know the first thing about First Nations laws and customs and hides behind the power of a colonial property law system; a system that derives from the same colonial power that subjugated the Indian peoples. Adani dishonours the memory of Mahatma Gandhi and his countrymen and women who fought to throw off the yoke of colonial oppression. Now he perpetuates the same colonial mindset on our people and country in modern day Australia.
“The recent full bench Federal Court ruling in Fortescue Metals Group v Warrie on behalf of the Yindjibarndi People reminds us that the exercise of traditional rights over country is a legitimate form of occupancy, and is not viewed as being in the same context as Anglo-Australian relationships to land titles.
“As the Justices said, Aboriginal people do not fit into non-Aboriginal concepts of property, the exercise of proprietary rights and the enforcement of property rights,” he concluded.

Comments

samir sardana said…
Aussies say that they sanctioned Adani to aid the INDIAN POOR who have no electricity and Chaiwala says that he wants to cut imports.

Aims to save on Imports ? Then Y did SBI give a Billion USD loan to Adani’s mines in Aussie ?

Indian CSP units are selling power to the Grid at 7 cents/Kwh.What is the ECONOMIC COST of a Coal IPP in India ? These are hybrids of Solar Thermal with Wind,and a standby conventional fuel.

Y is Aussie selling Coal to India to feed the POOR when CSP is available ? dindooohindoo

What is the abundant resource in Indian POOR ZONES ? Agri wastes,animal husbandry,time and vegetation.

Which makes the option of Off Grid Power,from Bio Mass and Solar – THE viable option (for which there is an abundance of grants,subsidies and soft loans)

There is NO INDUSTRY viable in the POOR zones of India – and there is also NO consumer market,as there is no purchasing power.

Bio Mass power will provide income to the poor,and also extend the agri value chain,and increase the purchasing power.

So Y is Aussie funding coal exports to Indian IPPs ?

What is the smell when an Indian Bank,funds a Mine in Aussie – when no other bank in the world,wants to fund it ?

That 4 letter word ! S-C-A-M !

The jackpot is in the IPP in India – at say,a cost of 2 Billion USD.Safe to say that,20% is taken out already (and that was possible ONLY after,the Coal Mine in Aussie was licensed and financially closed)

The way the Indians spin it,is that IPP sells power to Grid – the Grid is bankrupt – and the coal is feeding the IPP.So no foreign bank will fund the Coal mine,as there is a payment and soverign risk,on the IPP power sold,to the Indian Grid.

So the Foreign banker says (on the greasing by the Indians) – get an Indian Banker,to be a part of the Consortium ! They think that the Indian Banker,will vet the Credit and Soverign risk,of the Grid ! The Utopia of Thoughts !

India is the land of Gandhi,id.est., the face of Gandhi,on a Rs 2000 note.Everything and everybody has a price – including the dead,as in Union Carbide.

The Aussies need to make the story,more believable,for the sake of posterity – at the minimum.

TRENDING

'Draconian' Kerala health law follows WHO diktat: Govt readies to take harsh measures

By Dr Maya Valecha*  The Governor of Kerala has signed the Kerala Public Health Bill, which essentially reverses the people’s campaign in healthcare services in Kerala for decentralisation. The campaign had led to relinquishing of state powers in 1996, resulting in improvement of health parameters in Kerala. Instead, now, enforcement of law through the exercise of power, fines, etc., and the implementation of protocol during the pandemic, are considered of prime importance.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Bihar rural women entrepreneurs witness 50% surge in awareness about renewal energy

By Mignonne Dsouza*  An endline survey conducted under the Bolega Bihar initiative revealed a significant increase in awareness of renewable energy among women, rising from 25% to 76% in Nalanda and Gaya. Renu Kumari, a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Nalanda, Bihar, operates a village eatery that serves as the primary source of income for her family, including her husband and five children. However, a significant portion of her profits was being directed toward covering monthly electricity expenses that usually reach Rs 2,000. 

Work with Rajasthan's camel herders: German scientist wins World Cookbook Award 2023

By Rosamma Thomas*  Gourmand World Cookbook Awards are the only awards for international food culture. This year, German scientist  Ilse Kohler Rollefson , founder of Camel Charisma, the first of India’s camel dairies, in Pali district of Rajasthan, won the award for her work with camel herders in Rajasthan, and for preparing for the UN International Year of Camelids, 2024. 

Reject WHO's 'draconian' amendments on pandemic: Citizens to Union Health Minister

By Our Representative  Several concerned Indian citizens have written to the Union Health Minister to reject amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted during the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA75) in May 2022, apprehending this will make the signatories surrender their autonomy to the “unelected, unaccountable and the whimsical WHO in case of any future ‘pandemics’.”

Golwalkar's views on tricolour, martyrs, minorities, caste as per RSS archives

By Shamsul Islam*  First time in the history of independent India, the in-charge minister of the Cultural Ministry in the current Modi government, Prahlad Singh Patel, has glorified MS Golwalkar, second supremo of the RSS and the most prominent ideologue of the RSS till date, on his birth anniversary, February 19. In a tweet he wrote : “Remembering a great thinker, scholar, and remarkable leader #MSGolwalkar on his birth anniversary. His thoughts will remain a source of inspiration & continue to guide generations.”

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Why is electricity tariff going up in India? Who is the beneficiary? A random reflection

By Thomas Franco*  Union Ministry of Power has used its power under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003 to force States to import coal which has led to an increase in the cost of electricity production and every consumer is paying a higher tariff. In India, almost everybody from farmers to MSMEs are consumers of electricity.

Deplorable, influential sections 'still believe' burning coal is essential indefinitely

By Shankar Sharma*  Some of the recent developments in the power sector, as some  recent news items show, should be of massive relevance/ interest to our policy makers in India. Assuming that our authorities are officially mandated/ committed to maintain a holistic approach to the overall welfare of all sections of our society, including the flora, fauna and general environment, these developments/ experiences from different parts of the globe should be clear pointers to the sustainable energy pathways for our people.

Environmental cost of Green Revolution: India world’s second-highest fertilizer importer

By Glenn Davis Stone*  Feeding a growing world population has been a serious concern for decades, but today there are new causes for alarm. Floods, heat waves and other weather extremes are making agriculture increasingly precarious, especially in the Global South .