Wangkumarra, Native Title, Mining
Aboriginal Traditional Owners of Australia's Richest Oil Fields
Mining giant Santos is ripping off the Wangkumarra people and destroying the land through petroleum mining and "seismic line" exploration techniques.
Traditional Owners
Wangkumarra land is at the juncture of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia. But thousands of years before those invisible lines came to be, the Wangkumarra were living there traditionally. There are some amazing man-made rock structures there from that time, showing the superior mathematical and technological competence of these traditional landowners, from a time millennia before the pyramids, Stonehenge, or even the earliest european cave paintings. One such structure is a stone sundial, a solar calendar that is constructed perfectly to within a fraction of a millimetre of accuracy on the points of the compass.
Colonial Invasion
During European invasion, these people were rounded up and moved off their land in trucks. Many tried to return and were thwarted by a flood, many escaped and were recaptured, and many ended up settling in Bourke in New South Wales, far from home. Today, seventy percent of the population of the famous outback town of Bourke are Wangkumarra people. However, many of those who escaped capture and resettlement managed to remain on Wangkumarra territory, and that community is still there today. The Wangkumarra were granted native title on their land because oil was found there - the richest onshore oil and petroleum deposit in the continent.
Native Title Claim
The Australian government always pushes native title through quickly when minerals are discovered, so that no pending claims might delay the mining companies that prop up the Australian economy. Also, the granting of native title can always be used as a bargaining chip to gain the approval of traditional owners for mining. In this case, the Wangkumarra agreed to the mining proposal in exchange for native title and guarantees about Aboriginal health, education and employment, as well as royalties from the mine.
However, these promises were not met, and the traditional owners of the country's richest onshore oil mine remain the poorest demographic of the nation. Promises of improved health, employment and education have not been met. Since 2001, the collective Wangkumarra people have received an annual payment of $60,000 (well, not received – it is held in trust of course) in compensation for the mining company Santos’ destructive mining and exploration activity on their land. This is a pretty good deal for Santos, who rip half a billion dollars worth of oil and gas out of the land every year.
Mining on Aboriginal Land
Massive pipelines over 6,500km in length now deface Wangkumarra land. Santos uses a mining exploration technique called “seismic lines” involving bulldozing a massive area flat and sending shockwaves into the land with seismic charges.
The usual promises of community development, employment and education were given when the Wangkumarra first signed the agreement in 2001. These were later discovered to be lies when the traditional owners were blocked from setting up agribusiness on their own land. The reason given was that they were considered incapable of managing such properties.
In 2005 Santos unearthed an Aboriginal burial ground on the mining site. They covered it up and when they were caught in this act of sacrelige, still refused to disclose details of that and other sites they were alleged to have unearthed.
The traditional owners are known as “The Fighting Wangkumarra”, and are still fighting today to save their country and communities.
