Breony Carbines and Simon Prideaux

South Australia is about to face a massive expansion of the mining industry. Financially and politically supported by the SA Labor government, mining companies are searching the state for copper, gold, uranium and mineral sands.

In the far west region of SA in the land of the Kokatha Mula Nation Far West Division, 16 companies have exploration leases over the culturally and ecologically significant areas of Yellabinna Regional Reserve and the Yumbarra and Pureba Conservation Parks.

It is an area of four million hectares containing rolling sand dunes, clay pans, granite outcrops and water rock holes, and it is the largest stretch of intact stunted mallee forest in the world. The area holds law and culture for Kokatha Mula people and they do not want it disturbed.

Companies involved in exploration include Red Metal, Adelaide Resources and Iluka Resources. Iluka, the most active of all the companies, mines, markets and exports titanium and zircon. Uses of titanium include makeup, sunscreen, paint and electronic components, while zircon is used in porcelain and to line nuclear power plants.

In 2002, Labor's election policy included a promise to ban mining in the Yumbarra Conservation Park "if the current exploration lease proves fruitless and expires". The lease over Yumbarra did expire in February 2003 but the SA Labor government broke its promise by granting further licenses.

In October 2005, Premier Mike Rann announced 500,000 hectares of Yellabinna, as a wilderness area protected from mining and exploration. Although this was a welcome development, the government consistently fails to understand that the entire area deserves protection.

The Kokatha Mula continue to live their culture, express their grave concerns about mining, take measures to protect their heritage and share with those willing to learn the significance of this unique stretch of country.

"This is the last inland area where I can teach our children - this is our school ... the land houses our bush medicine - our pharmacy. Hunting for our meat, gathering our food - our grocery stores, our garden. Our spiritual beliefs are within and throughout the land – this is our church," says Sue Coleman Haseldine from the Kokatha Mula Nation.
 
To raise awareness and share culture, Kokatha Mula host rockhole cleaning trips every six months. The last three trips consisting of 20-30 people have made progress in returning significant water rockholes back to good health. The trips are an opportunity to visit a pristine ecosystem and make a practical contribution to land conservation with the direction of committed traditional owners.

Acting as an ecological link between the northern Mulga woodlands and the southern Mallee dune system, the area holds significant biodiversity. It is valuable habitat for endangered, rare and threatened flora and fauna including the Mallee Fowl, the Kularr, the Hairy Footed Dunnart, the Scarlet Chested Parrot, the Pimpin Mallee, Sandlewood Tree, and the Long-scaped Isotome. It is probably home to a community of the highly endangered Miniature Marsupial Mole.

As the area becomes riddled with exploration, the status of these species becomes increasingly precarious. Hunting grounds are also at risk. Areas once rich in wombats and bush turkey have been rapidly altered by roadwork, sample drilling and other exploration activities resulting in a noticeable reduction of bush foods.

Mining companies argue that exploration and mining will only have a minimal impact and restoration is possible. However, Kokatha Mula have already witnessed impacts at this early stage. The worry is that further impacts may not only restrict their access to foods, medicine and places of cultural importance but also limit their ability to share their culture and most importantly to educate their children.

Marcina Coleman Richards, a senior Kokatha Mula woman, says: "We want to keep the land and rockholes, the way it is. For the importance of our family and our culture."

Blockade

In late March, Kokatha Mula and participants in the latest rockhole cleaning trip came across Iluka Resources workers clearing roads for exploration. Work was stopped on this day and a peaceful road block that included the vigil of an 80 year old Kokatha Mula elder was established. Work was stopped for a further 14 days before protestors were evicted by National Parks and Wildlife. The blockade attracted extensive media and garnered awareness and support around the country.

Marcina Coleman Richards and Sue Coleman Haseldine state: "We have been campaigning for protection of this region for many years. Short term profits from mining will never outweigh the natural and cultural values of this land, and what it means to our people. Our message to the state government and any mining companies ... is 'Munda Yumadoo Iliga' which means 'leave the land as it is'."

Despite the successes of the campaign so far, the urgency of the situation remains. Exploration activities are still underway. Due to the number of sites and companies involved and the remote nature of the country, political intervention and proper protection is paramount.

The SA government needs to be held accountable for its broken election promises. Yumbarra needs to be reinstated to true conservation status and Yellabinna and Pureba should be granted the same level of protection to disallow all mining exploration.

The rights of the Kokatha Mula need to be recognised.

As Bronwyn Coleman Sleep says: "We don't want broken promises, we need action."

If you would like to support the Kokatha Mula, here are some things you can do:
* Fill out the form letter on the Kokatha Mula website <kokathamula.auspics.org> or write your own and send it to SA politicians (Premier Mike Rann, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Jay Weatherill, and Environment Minister Gail Gago).
* Organise an information-sharing meeting and/or fundraiser event.
* Order a copy of the slide show and/or documentary.
* Help with research into the companies and their mining proposals.
* Purchase Kokatha Mula products or campaign merchandise.
* Come on a rockhole cleaning trip.
* Donate phone credit, fuel vouchers, a satellite phone, food supplies, camping gear and office materials.

To donate money:
Bank SA/St Georges Bank
Account Name: Kokatha Mula Nation Far West Division Aboriginal Corporation
BSB: 105100
Account number: 03249 1240

Post: Far West Division Aboriginal Corporation
PO Box 484, Ceduna, SA, 5690. <kokathamulacamp@gmail.com>
Aunty Sue Coleman Haseldine 0428 872 375.