MEDIA RELEASE 

16^th September 2015

Walkatjurra Walkabout completes 5th walk against uranium mining in West Australia

The Walkatjurra Walkabout, which started in 2011, finished its 5th walk in the North Eastern Goldfields town of Leonora on Tuesday. The walk, a collaboration of Aboriginal and non-indigenous people, is a moving community protest against the proposed uranium mines in the region.

The month long walk, lead by local Traditional Owners, covered almost 450 km’s from Wiluna to Leonora, passing Toro Energy’s Wiluna uranium mine proposal at Lake Way and Cameco’s proposed uranium mine at Yeelirrie Station.  

Walk participants included local Traditional Owners, people from Australia, Japan, Taiwan, England, Sweden, Aotearoa (New Zealand), America and France. The walks continue to attract people interested in learning about Aboriginal culture, caring for country and to share a united vision for a nuclear free world. 

The walk was also joined at Yeelirrie for two days by Federal Greens senators Rachel Siewert and Co-Deputy Greens leader Scott Ludlam along with state Greens MLC Robin Chapple. The visit included a tour of Toro Energy’s uranium project at Lake Way near Wiluna with walkers and Toro Energy.

Many of the participants have first hand experience of the dangers of the nuclear industry, especially those from Japan and Taiwan, whose nuclear industry are fuelled by Australian uranium.

Local Traditional Owner Vicky McCabe from Leonora, who walked the whole way said “We have been walking for five years against these Uranium mines, and we will continue to walk and invite people to our country to tell Toro and Cameco that there is no way they will be taking this poison out of our country.” 

Mandjindja Koara woman Sandra Evans said “You would think that the government and mining companies would have learnt from the lessons of Hiroshima, Fukushima and Chernobyl. This poison has done nothing but killed and hurt millions of people. Uranium is deadly, we have always known that, it should stay in the ground where it is.

Koara Tribal Leader, Richard Evans said “As the traditional owners of our land we have never consented to allow the Australian Government, State Government or mining companies to come here and dig up our country, we assert our sovereign rights to care for our land and to stop this destruction. How long do we the Aboriginal owners of the land have to demonstrate that we do not want in any way this uranium to be taken out of our country, and then sent overseas to poison some other peoples country.”

The Walkatjurra Walkabout is a celebration of Aboriginal culture and community resistance to the nuclear industry with the aim to keep Western Australia, nuclear free.

For more information please contact:

Marcus Atkinson – 0400505765