ARCHIVE: Is Australia Committing Crimes Against Humanity Against Aboriginal People?

FIRST AIRED: 15/07/2020. On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the Director of the Dumbartung Aboriginal Corporation, Robert Eggington. He discusses the recent revelations on the level of involvement of Buckingham Palace on the dismissal of Australian PM Gough Whitlam and whether his ouster made any difference to Aboriginal Australians, extreme societal problems faced by Aboriginal Australians such as mass-incarceration, third-world levels of poverty and high suicide rates, how the development of the Australian state has coincided with the destruction of Aboriginal people and culture, the role of Australian mining companies in this destruction of Australian indigenous people and culture, the perceived unfairness of Australia’s judicial system and more!

STATEMENT FROM WOODSIDE:

Woodside has successfully operated its LNG facilities on the Burrup Peninsula (Murujuga) for more than 35 years. We are proud of our relationships with Traditional Custodians and our co-existence with the cultural heritage values of the area.
Today our heritage management is thorough and transparent as a result of continued close engagement with Aboriginal stakeholders and communities. For your reference: https://www.woodside.com.au/sustainability/part-of-the-community/indigenous-peoples

Aboriginal people including Traditional Custodians continue to benefit from our operations. We know that our host communities value our presence and our contribution. We also provide benefits back to Indigenous communities through financial benefit agreements, social investments, direct and indirect employment opportunities and Indigenous contracting. See: https://files.woodside/docs/default-source/news-and-media-documents/publications/reconciliation-action-plan-report-2019.pdf

STATEMENT FROM FORTESCUE METALS GROUP:

“Fortescue is proud to be one of Australia’s largest employers of Aboriginal people. As at 31 March 2020, 857 of our Fortescue team mates are Aboriginal people, representing 11 per cent of the total workforce and 15 per cent of our Pilbara workforce.
“We work closely with the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we operate. Our primary objective at all times is to work on a cultural heritage avoidance basis. Our seven Native Title Agreements with Aboriginal people establish detailed processes for the conduct of Aboriginal cultural heritage surveys, consultation, project planning, impact mitigation and negotiation.

“Final decisions to grant Section 18 consent rest with the Western Australian Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and we understand that the WA Government recognises the importance of making appropriately balanced decisions to protect significant heritage sites while facilitating local jobs and economic growth.
“To date, Fortescue has worked with Traditional Knowledge Holders to avoid approximately 6000 significant heritage places and this continues to be an important element of our approach.”

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