Statement To BHP Billiton And Shareholders

Statement To BHP Billiton And Shareholders At The BHP Annual General Meeting

Kevin Buzzacott - Arabunna Elder

You BHP, the biggest mining company in the world, and here we are the oldest peoples in the world. You should be listening to us about this land and the water.

Two years ago when you BHP bought out Western Mining Corporation you bought a bad investment, you didn’t ask us, you didn’t consult with us. In the past I’ve told WMC that we didn’t want them to continue mining.

We wanted them to stop mining and we wanted them to stop taking the sacred water out of the Great Artesian Basin. Now you BHP are doing the same thing and you want to make it bigger and you want to make it open cut.

There should never be an open cut uranium mine in the desert.

Do not expand this mine. We don’t want an open cut mine. We do not want any more water taken out of the Great Artesian Basin we want that to stop.

To the Shareholders of BHP don’t invest any more money into this development, you will have a lot on your conscience. Sooner or later you will have to pay for the rehabilitation of that land, and you should know by now that this land is sacred.

We don’t know if you shareholders understand the impacts of what you’re doing to the Arabunna people, the Kokatha people and other tribes around that area. You don’t understand what you’re doing to the land and the culture.
My question to you BHP is, is it possible to close down the Olympic Dam Uranium mine, immediately, and if not immediately when is the soonest time possible that you can shut this mine down.

Can you Shareholders make a decision in this meeting right now to close down the Olympic Dam Uranium mine or to take your shares and invest in something else ... and are you prepared to compensate all Aboriginal People around Roxby Downs to rehabilitate that country?