Howdy partners,

Yuendumu is half way between Alice Springs and the Granites gold mine.

US based Newmont, the world’s largest gold miner, gained control of what it now calls its Tanami operations in 2001. Annual production I believe is half a million ounces of gold worth a billion dollars. A few million dollars of so called ‘royalties’ finds it way to Aboriginal Australia. The distribution of these crumbs is governed by the NT Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. This distribution is increasingly ethnocentrically and patronisingly tightly controlled by the Central Land Council. “Have you been good children?” “Here is your presents!” and is ever more akin to throwing bones to a pack of dogs, dominant dogs getting the lion’s share.

Last Monday’s Q&A on ABC television was as annoying and boring as ever. Q&A’s saving grace was that Eva Cox was on the panel. Eva spent most of the time mirroring those of us on the other side of the camera who shook our heads in disbelief at some of the utterances of others on the panel. At last a question was posed which wasn’t related to Chinese influence in Australian politics. For those of you who don’t know, the Australian Government is trying to legislate compulsory drug testing of welfare recipients, and the question was in relation to this. Eva came out fighting and rightly called it out for what it is, further stigmatisation of an already stigmatised vulnerable section of Australian society. Kick them when they’re down! An idiot on the panel sprung to the government’s defence by claiming that compulsory drug testing of welfare recipients was no different to compulsory drug testing in the mining industry.

At present there is not a single Warlpiri person working at the Tanami Operations up the road. I do recall when Yuendumu Mining Company was involved in recruiting workers for the mine that we had to take applicants in the opposite direction first. Applicants were alcohol and drug tested in Alice Springs. When I suggested that they could be tested at the Granites seeing as Newmont had facilities there to do so, and if the applicants failed, we could simply take them back to Yuendumu, I was quietly told that the company didn’t want to be seen to reject local recruits.

Passenger- Fool’s Gold… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Y5lHBNT74

Tom Petty & the heart breakers- Mary Jane’s Last Dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BfG_GQSf-E

Cheerio

Franklin