Pilgrimage to protest uranium mining
A custodian of the Kungarakun lands in the Northern Territory is preparing to head to Japan, to protest against uranium mining and nuclear by-products. Speedy McGuiness has just completed a 2273 kilometre pilgrimage, which began in Roxby Down in South Australia 2 months ago. This week he arrived in Canberra, and will travel Japan to mark the protest – on the anniversary of the Horishima bombing. Mr McGuiness says he knows first hand the damaging effects of uranium mining, the old Rum Jungle mine having operated on his people’s lands from 1950 to 1971. Meantime, twenty maintenance workers are back on the job at the Ranger Uranium Mine today. It follows a public forum at Jabiru overnight – community concerns ranged from the long-term health impacts from the exposure of workers, through to why last week’s accident happened in the first place.