Mark Parnell MLC
 

Uranium mining in Arkaroola

Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary is a private sanctuary located in the northern Flinders Ranges, adjacent to the Gammon Ranges National Park.  It is 610sq km in size and is of high conservation value.  Arkaroola was declared a sanctuary under the National Parks and Wildlife Act by the State Government in 1996.  This beautiful and iconic eco-tourism destination and important region for the Adnyamathanha people is now under threat from mining interests.

Mining company Marathon Resources has lodged an application to mine 45 million tonnes of uranium oxide at Mt Gee in the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. They hope to have an underground uranium mine operating in the sanctuary by 2011 and to operate the mine for 13 years.

If this uranium mine were to go ahead it would pose a threat to many features of the sanctuary, including the threatened yellow footed rock wallaby, reptile and plant species.  It may also impact upon the Great Artesian Basin springs which are listed and protected as an 'endangered ecological community' under Commonwealth environment legislation. In addition to this, there is also the issue of the damage caused by the radioactive waste and radiation created by the mine, not to mention the threat that the whole nuclear industry poses to our planet.

There is a great deal of community interest in protecting this sanctuary. However, it seems likely that the Rann Labor Government will support uranium mining here as it has elsewhere in South Australia.  It will take people power or legislative change to protect this important wilderness.

In November 2006, the Premier ruled out the exploration and mining of uranium proposed by the same company near Myponga on the Fleurieu Peninsula following a campaign by concerned residents against the proposal.   The Greens believe the Premier should move to protect this wilderness sanctuary as he did with the Fleurieu proposal.

Protected areas such as National Parks and Sanctuaries are vital to the preservation of Australia's biodiversity.  That's why the Greens are calling on the State Government to rule out forever mining in Arkaroola.

 
The Greens campaign....

 Arkaroola photos courtesy of Bill Doyle

 

Latest News:

'Seeking a Balance' submissions to be published 

After pressure from the Greens, the Government will publish online the public submissons on the 'Seeking a Balance document. 

There was an overwhelming response in favour of protecting Arkaroola.  Click here and here to find out more.

To read the submissions, click here.

 

'Cowboy' Protest at the 2009 Marathon Resources AGM

At the November 19 2009 Marathon AGM a posse of Wilderness Society 'cowboys' let Marathon Resources shareholders know that their company is not welcome in Arkaroola. 

 

 

 

Government releases draft Management plan for Arkaroola region

On the 27th of October 2009, the Rann Government released a draft management Plan for the Northern Flinders Ranges, called 'Seeking in Balance'. 

Far from being balanced, this Plan allows for mining activity right in the heart of the Arkaroola Sanctuary. 

Click here to read Mark's submission on the 'Seeking a Balance' draft.

 

 

Exploration licence Re-issued to Marathon (October 2009)

 

In devastating news, the Government has granted a brand new 12 month exploration licence to Marathon Resources.

Click here, here and here to find out more.

 

Arkaroola Sanctuary Forum in Parliament House

On the 2nd of September 2009, Mark Parnell and the Hon. Iain Evans MP hosted a forum in Parliament House to call for permanent protection for the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary.

Apart from Mark and Iain, speakers included Senator Nick Minchin, Sanctuary owner Marg Sprigg and Peter Owen from the Wilderness Society.

Click here find out what Mark said.

 

Clean up complete - what next?

In February, when Parliament resumed for 2009, and after Marathon Resources Mark Parnell asked Minister Holloway when he would kick the company out once and for good. 

Here is the question and Holloway's response, and the media that followed.

 

Marathon AGM Protest

On the 28th of November, the Greens, The Wilderness Society and Friends of the Earth held a demonstration outside Marathon's Annual General Meeting to remind shareholders and Government alike that the community does not support mining in Arkaroola. 

Click here to watch a clip of the rally.  

 

New Bill to ban mining in the Arkaroola Sanctuary

On the 24th of September 2008, Mark Parnell made another attempt to ban, once and for all, all mining activity from the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. He introduced a new Greens Private Members Bill - the National Parks and Wildlife (Arkaroola-Mt Painter Sanctuary Mining Prohibition) Amendment Bill.

Click here to find a copy of the Bill and to read Mark's introductory speech.

 

Mark Parnell visits the Arkaroola Sancturary

In September 2008 Mark Parnell went to see for himself the damage caused by Marathon Resources.

On his return, he again raised the issue in Parliament.

 

Government allows clean up to begin

Marathon has received approval, after a number of knockbacks, for its Rectification Plan to clean up its environmental vandalism.

Read the Rectification Plan here.

Marathon have also started a PR blitz to clean up their reputation.....but we've heard it all before.  Here is what Marathon Chairman Peter Williams said at the last company AGM in November 2007:

"Building a world-class project with world-class environmental and safety standards is a challenging task, but we believe we have the right systems in place to achieve our goals"

Here is what he is saying now in a letter to shareholders:

"The attention of the Board of Marathon Resources has been drawn to a significant issue for the Company as a result of the unauthorised burial of drill samples at Mt Gee, South Australia.

Our Mt Gee drilling program was subsequently suspended on 24 January 2008 by the Department of Primary Industries and Resources South Australia (PIRSA] and an investigation conducted by PIRSA and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) was highly critical of the company and required us to develop a Rectification Plan.

As Chairman, I have led Marathon's review process to understand how this Mt Gee incident occurred and what we needed to learn. The results of this review, "Marathon Resources: Learning from Waste in the Wilderness", is being made public so that our key stakeholders can hear from us about our understanding of what happened and what we plan to do to ensure that these types of incidents do not recur.

Throughout the review process, I came to the difficult realisation that this incident may in fact have been symptomatic of our culture and Marathon's overall approach. As with many other mining companies, we have had instances in the past where our exploration activities have caused sometimes very vocal local opposition. For Marathon, at Myponga our exploration program met with a powerful community campaign that led to uranium exploration being ruled out in that location by the South Australian Government.

At Mt Gee, which sits within the award-winning eco-tourist Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, we had a number of incidents that were unacceptable such as an employee damaging a geologically significant fluorite vein that university students would often visit and another of our employees upsetting tourists after an injured euro was killed".

 

Report into Marathon Resources now complete

The PIRSA investigation into Marathon's activities is now complete, and was released on the 8th May 2008.  Read the Report and Minister's Holloway's Response.

Despite being found guilty of 21 separate offences, and confirmation they used unauthorised machinery to damage the unique Mt Gee geological monument itself, all PIRSA are asking Marathon to do is clean up the mess they created in the first place. 

That's just not good enough.

In light of this damming report the Government has no choice but to rule out, once and for all, the return of Marathon to the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. 

Anything less will send a crystal clear message to other mining companies that the worst a 'cowboy' company will receive in South Australia for a gross breach of their licence conditions, is a rap on the knuckles.

 

Greens Bill Defeated

On the 5th of March 2008, the Greens Private Members Bill to protect South Australian sanctuaries from mining and mining exploration was sadly defeated in the Legislative Council through the combined forces of the Rann Labor Goverment, the Liberal Opposition, and No Pokies Independents Ann Bressington and John Darley.

The Greens are now planning to introduce another Bill designed to specifically protect the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary from mining and mining exploration.

Read Mark's media release for more information.

 

Marathon Resources Caught Breaching their Licence Conditions

In early February 2008, Marathon Resources was caught breaching its licence conditions.  The licence breach wasn't just a minor discovery of poor rubbish disposal, but a systematic and sustained disregard by Marathon of their surroundings.   

According to the initial PIRSA investigation, 22 800 bags, some containing radioactive drill cores, have been disposed of in 2 pits 35 metres long and 2.7m deep in the middle of the wilderness sanctuary, and mechanical equipment has been used to damage the Mount Gee geological monument itself. Also, there are reports of a second rubbish dump in the Sanctuary.

The Government responded by suspending indefinitely Marathon's exploration licence.  However, Marathon claims that the suspension is only a temporary set-back, and fully expects to be allowed to recommence their activities in Arkaroola by the end of the year. This latest incident is just one more reason to permanently ban all mining activity in Arkaroola.

Read PIRSA's Initial Investigation Report

Read Minister Holloway's Ministerial Statement

Read Mark's media release for more information.

Read Mark's Question to Minister Holloway in Parliament (and his reply).

On the 26th of February Mark asked the Minister to confirm once and for all, that when the clean-up by Marathon Resources is complete, its exploration licence would be cancelled. Read Mark's Question and the Minister's reply.

 

Greens Bill to Ban Mining in Sanctuaries

On the 17th of October 2007 Mark introduced a Private Members Bill into the Legislative Council to prevent exploration and mining in all sanctuaries, including Arkaroola.  Click here to read a copy of Mark's speech in Parliament.

 

To find out more....

How you can make a difference....

 

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  Authorised by M. Parnell, Parliament House Adelaide. Site credits.