Senator Thorpe's Additional Comments

Summary of recommendations

1.1In line with the clear demands of Larrakia Custodians, the life threatening and ecocidal Middle Arm Industrial Precinct must not proceed, and colonial governments should instead divert the allocated funding and resources into projects that promote the health of Country and its people rather than threaten it.

1.2The federal government’s support for the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct must be contingent upon the Northern Territory Government obtaining the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the Larrakia people.

1.3The Northern Territory Government must not proceed with the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct until it has obtained the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the Larrakia people.

1.4In developing a cultural values framework for engagement with Larrakia Peoples, the Northern Territory Government must engage in a broad consultation process that adheres to the principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent and engage on a grassroots level with all nine Larrakia families and appropriate knowledge-holders.

1.5Implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into domestic law to have full domestic effect and enshrine in law First Peoples’ rights to Free, Prior and Informed Consent.

1.6Implement all recommendations from the 2023 Inquiry into the application of UNDRIP in Australia, including establishing a process for auditing existing legislation and policies against the principles of UNDRIP and developing a National Action Plan for the implementation of UNDRIP.

1.7Northern Territory and federal governments must strengthen transparency and accountability obligations within Northern Territory Land Councils, with particular reference to:

governance arrangements and relations with mining companies;

proper management of conflicts of interest;

inequalities in the negotiating position of Traditional Owners; and

adherence with the principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent.

1.8The federal parliament must conduct an inquiry into First Nations representative bodies, to inquire into the governance of Northern Territory Land Councils, Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) and Prescribed Body Corporates (PBCs), with particular reference to:

the effectiveness of the Native Title Act 1993, and related state and federal institutional and policy frameworks, in addressing inequalities in the negotiating position of First Peoples, and alignment with the principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent; and

opportunities for reforming existing institutional, legislative and policy frameworks, including new accountability or governance arrangements, to better advance the rights and economic, social, environmental and cultural aspirations of First Peoples.

1.9The Albanese Government must immediately begin a process of Truth-telling, so that we can tell the history of this place, learn about the ravages and destruction that has occurred to our lands and waterways, understand the exploitation of First Peoples and our natural resources and allow us all to heal.

1.10Defence Housing Australia must immediately stop their ecocidal development at binybara/Lee Point and commence a process of returning control of this land to the custodianship of Larrakia peoples.

1.11Urgent reform is needed to restore trust in government decision making by removing the influence of the fossil fuel industry from politics, including electoral reforms, banning political donations from fossil fuel companies, and proper investigation and recourse into conflicts of interest relating to all politicians and their staff.

1.12Governments must ensure that First Peoples’ perspectives and ecological knowledge are given at least equal weight to Western science so that the cultural authority of First Peoples can be embedded in all environmental policy, practices and approaches to nature protection, including ecological surveys, evaluations and decision making.

1.13The Albanese Government must immediately begin a Treaty process with all Sovereign First Peoples, which will enable all language groups to uphold their cultural authority over Country and self-determine their own aspirations.

1.14The federal government must withdraw the $1.5 billion it has committed to this destructive project and reinvest it into lifesaving housing, health, and other much needed lifesaving services.

1.15Current and future governments must not approve any new fossil fuel projects if we are to meet our emissions reduction obligations under the Paris Agreement.

1.16Current and future governments must ensure that all proposed energy projects, including fracking in the Beetaloo Basin, offshore gas projects and carbon capture and storage projects, undergo rigorous environmental assessments that include:

a requirement to obtain the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of First Peoples whose lands are impacted;

proper consideration of climate impacts, including Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions of projects; and

ensuring that new environmental and cultural heritage laws, once introduced, apply to all proposals that have not yet received final approval.

Recommendation 17

1.17The federal Minister for Environment and Water must call in Tamboran and Empire Energy’s gas fracking wells for assessment under the EPBC water trigger.

1.18The federal government must use all the tools at its disposal to ensure the Northern Territory Government adheres to all recommendations of the Pepper Inquiry, particularly addressing non-compliance with Recommendation 9.8 that requires all Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions from fracking projects to be offset.

1.19The federal government must implement in full all recommendations from the 2021 A Way Forward: Final report into the destruction of Indigenous heritage sites at Juukan Gorge, including introducing new standalone cultural heritage legislation as a matter of urgency.

1.20The federal environmental laws must urgently be reformed to ensure that the full impacts on Country, culture and climate of projects like the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct can be properly assessed, including:

reforming the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EBPC Act) to include a climate trigger;

amending the EPBC Act water trigger to include consideration of the cultural values of water resources and carbon capture and storage projects;

establishing legally enforceable National Environmental Standards, including a First Nations Standard for Participation and Engagement in Decision-Making; and

ensuring new environmental laws and National Environmental Standards align with new cultural heritage laws to protect any further destruction to First Nations tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Sovereignty never ceded

1.21At a public hearing on 10 April 2024, Aunty June Mills stated that:

Two hundred and fifty years of bullying and standover merchant tactics of us, our people and our land—everybody here, not only Larrakia—is not going to change the fact that this is our land, still. It always was, from the beginning of time and into the future—still our land—and we will still fight for that and for our basic rights...Nothing can change that, except for the day that we give up our rights, and that's not going to happen. We've got generations coming after us that have their inheritance because we're looking after it and we're passing it down through our knowledge and our practices. We can see the day when the oppression will continue, but we teach our children to be strong within themselves and within their own identities.[1]

1.22First Peoples across this continent have never ceded our Sovereignty, and I pay my honour and respect to those who fight to protect our Country and our culture in the face of violent colonial governments across this continent and around the world. I acknowledge that this inquiry relates to the land in the custodianship of the Larrakia People, whose Sovereignty has never been ceded and that all development proposals in the Northern Territory, take place on unceded Aboriginal land.

I'm Arbei Adjrun, a Larrakia woman of flesh and blood. I speak for the land, and we are under illegal occupation.[2]

I'm a living Larrakia woman on illegally occupied lands.[3]

I'm Matthew Cubillo, Larrakia. I don't believe youse have any sovereignty here.[4]

First Peoples have never surrendered. The war is ongoing. We are still here, we belong here and we maintain our rights, our borders, and our Sovereignty.[5]

1.23I wish to express my gratitude to all Larrakia Peoples who gave evidence in this inquiry and shared with us their knowledge and experiences in relation to how the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct (MAIP) will impact their Country, their culture and their livelihoods. I also wish to thank all First Peoples who participated in this inquiry, particularly those who travelled to Larrakia Country to give evidence to the committee in its hearings. After travelling to Larrakia Country to hear from Larrakia families and First Peoples from other areas, the committee must respect the cultural authority of First Peoples and has an obligation to these families to genuinely consider and give weight to their advice.

1.24Sovereignty is our unceded right, held in collective possession by the members of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations, which confers usage, access and custodianship to the lands, waters, minerals and natural resources of what is now known as Australia, and the right of First Peoples to exercise an unimpeded and collective self-determinate governance over our political, economic and social affairs. It is our right to self-governance and to be the architects of our own future. It is the right to make and enforce our own laws, including the First Lore of this land, as well as the right to self-determine our own destiny.

Self-Determination and Free, Prior and Informed Consent

1.25First Peoples’ right to Self-determination is protected within international human rights law in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), to which Australia is a signatory. The UNDRIP embodies many human rights principles already protected under international customary and treaty law, is the most comprehensive international instrument on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and sets the minimum standard of human rights for First Peoples and State Parties’ interactions with their First Peoples.

1.26Throughout this inquiry, the committee heard from various Larrakia people about the disregard for fundamental human rights that has been on display from governments and industry, including the challenges they have faced in regard to the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct. Most importantly, there has been a real lack of genuine consultation and a disregard for the need to obtain Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).

Our knowledge-holders must assert our lore and culture through Larrakia authority. Larrakia should be given proper information and advice to make free, prior, and informed decisions.[6]

1.27FPIC is one of the core principles of the UNDRIP and a key prerequisite for colonial government interactions with First Peoples and ensuring their right to Self-determination is upheld. Article 32 of the Declaration states:

Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for the development or use of their lands or territories and other resources.

States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources.

States shall provide effective mechanisms for just and fair redress for any such activities, and appropriate measures shall be taken to mitigate adverse environmental, economic, social, cultural or spiritual impact.[7]

1.28The elements of a common understanding of free, prior and informed consent have been articulated by the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Report of the International Workshop on Methodologies regarding Free, Prior and Informed Consent and Indigenous Peoples:

Free implies that there is no coercion, intimidation or manipulation.

Prior implies that consent is to be sought sufficiently in advance of any authorization or commencement of activities and respect is shown to time requirements of First Nations consultation/consensus processes.

Informed implies that information is provided that covers a range of aspects, including the nature, size, pace, reversibility and scope of any proposed project or activity; the purpose of the project as well as its duration; locality and areas affected; a preliminary assessment of the likely economic, social, cultural and environmental impact, including potential risks; personnel likely to be involved in the execution of the project; and procedures the project may entail. This process may include the option of withholding consent. Consultation and participation are crucial components of a consent process.[8]

1.29Mr David Kurnoth speaks to what FPIC can look like in practice when he states:

If you want to know what's really the best interests of the Larrakia, get out of this office where we are right now and take the opportunity to go down to the water and speak to our elders. That is where this conversation really needs to take place. It's wrong having it here.

Don't ask the organisation and companies who claim to have our best interests at heart or even represent us; ask more questions of these people—okay? Ask about the consultation that has taken place. Ask for the raw data. Ask for the numbers that they consulted with and ask what the feedback was from those consultations. Don't just accept at face value that they actually went and spoke to people. If you want to talk about what's in the best interests of our people, let's talk about self-determination. Let's talk about the right to make our own choices, even if they're wrong ... I implore you to take more time to have real, meaningful conversations with individuals, not companies ... Take extra time to make decisions that are truly in the best interests of our families in the north, our living culture.[9]

1.30It is clear that Larrakia Custodians have unanimously opposed this project from the outset, and that the conduct of government and industry has been in direct contravention of FPIC principles. In this context, it is critical to address the common practice of government and industry in manufacturing consent to projects.

The proposed development of Middle Arm will have a significant detrimental impact on the cultural heritage of the area, and, as a person with knowledge and authority to speak for country, there has not been adherence to the principles of free, prior, informed consent from First Nations people. I do not consent to this development, and to do so is contrary to customary law.[10]

We are here to inform our countrymen, the greater Australian public and the world over that we, as the true living Larrakia men and women of our land, do not endorse or support any and all mining or gas projects, including fracking and any projects that will cause long-lasting devastation or extraordinary destruction, harm and injury to not only the land, water and air but to Larrakia law and all living on this land and the world over.[11]

… I have sat back and watched as developments occur without Larrakia consultation, much less consent.[12]

There are so many people, so many Larrakia people, that, as has been pointed out, have not been properly consulted and are not able to give any informed consent to what is happening.[13]

1.31When I asked directly, ‘do you give consent to frack on your country’, the responses were unanimous:

Ms McDinny: No.

Mr Hoosan: No.

Ms June Mills: No.

Miss James: No.

Ms Gregory: No.[14]

1.32Larrakia witnesses and Traditional Owners from the Beetaloo Basin expressed frustration at representative bodies that were established under Western colonial frameworks and which they felt did not adequately represent their views, with a particular focus on the Northern Land Council. They highlighted issues around power imbalances and a lack of culturally appropriate consultation, reducing their ability to negotiate with governments and industry and facilitating the manufacturing of consent. And so, it is no surprise that the government prefers to deal with these bodies who are a one stop shop and to approve their actions.

1.33Notable examples include Custodians in the Beetaloo stating that the Northern Land Council is no longer doing its job in representing Traditional Owners in negotiations with gas companies, instead being ‘in the business of facilitating fracking’.[15] This is why Nurrdalinji Corporation is seeking to take back control from the Northern Land Council in representing native title holders in the Beetaloo Basin. In addition, evidence was given in this inquiry regarding significant conflicts of interest held by Northern Land Council members, who were paid sums of money by Santos to travel to Tiwi Islands to put pressure on Traditional Owners to support gas projects. While there is nothing new about gas companies using the allure of new cars and cash payments to coerce First Nations communities into supporting their projects, it is particularly egregious to pay Aboriginal people to go and do this work on their behalf while appearing to be representing the Northern Land Council.

1.34Witnesses from the Northern Land Council were unable to provide any information on whether this had been properly investigated, or how it had been handled. They avoided responding to questions around this and instead simply provided a copy of a letter sent to Australian Energy Producers that kindly requested that they ‘make it clear’ that these individuals not are not attending in their capacity as Northern Land Council representatives’.[16]

...the Northern Land Council went around communities and didn't get consent from families and traditional owners. We never consented to the fracking plans that were about to happen in the Northern Territory. We were left quite in the dark about it.[17]

Almost always, Traditional Owners and native title holders are at a political, strategic, legal, financial and information disadvantage to the companies with which they are negotiating.[18]

There hasn't been very good consultation with Larrakia people. I am also a member of the Kenbi reference group of the Northern Land Council, and I've had the Northern Territory government present to our reference group. The information that they presented and the level in which they presented was too high for anyone to be able to understand. In general, the Northern Territory government speaks to organisations that are meant to represent Larrakia people but not to individuals on matters that relate to matters at hand like cultural heritage matters in regard to Middle Arm.[19]

We the living Larrakia men and women of the Larrakia land—Darwin and greater areas—give this notice that organisations, including but not limited to Larrakia Development Corporation, Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation and Northern Land Council, claiming to represent, be the peak body of, or speak or do business on behalf of the Larrakia men and women or land are making a false claim. These entities for many years have acted on the pretence that they consult with the Larrakia men and women in regard to Larrakia affairs, when in fact they only serve the active members of these organisations. Our records also show that these organisations have allowed for non-Larrakia people not only to be members but also to benefit from and be included in the consultation and decision-making in regard to Larrakia affairs.[20]

Don't ask the organisation and companies who claim to have our best interests at heart or even represent us; ask more questions of these people—okay? Ask about the consultation that has taken place. Ask for the raw data. Ask for the numbers that they consulted with and ask what the feedback was from those consultations. Don't just accept at face value that they actually went and spoke to people.[21]

With regard to the NLC, they need to be able [to] come together. Get them sorted out, instead of being established as a corrupted organisation. This has got to stop. They've got to start hearing our voices, the rightful people.[22]

English is their second or third language, and there's no interpreter from outside of the family who's there to interpret. Everything is spoken in English, but in just about every community here in the Northern Territory and across WA English is either the second, third or fourth language. So there's no interpretation. How they speak and explain everything to our family is not really understood. They agree to ideas, and whatever is spoken in those languages in those ideas within the Northern Land Council, yet it's not being explained properly. So they agree. They just say yes, yes, yes.[23]

Before, NLC used to negotiate with traditional owners—TOs and community—but now they don't do it. They just go ahead, behind the TOs' backs, and give permission for people to drill on their land.[24]

Consultation is not consent

1.35Despite what governments and the fossil fuel industry prefer to think, mere consultation is not consent, and does not fulfil the obligations outlined under the UNDRIP. As pointed out by the Environmental Defenders Office, ‘First Nations people must have the ability to alter the decision at issue or to develop accommodations of which they are satisfied to meet their interests at stake’ rather than simply ‘have their views heard’ or enjoy a ‘mere right to be involved’.[25]

I think that's what happened to this Larrakia mob. They weren't consulted and told. They just noticed that they were not allowed on their own land. They were trespassing on their own, because NLC never got down to negotiate with them and talk to them and explain to them, you know?[26]

I think it's important for everyone to know that, just because we're invited to these meetings that they call consultation, our families aren't rocking up. Every family has been invited to these, but we don't want to go. Why do we have to go there and let these fellas tell us what they plan to do on our country? It isn't consultation; that's not the definition of 'consultation'. Why should we have to go to an unsafe space for them to tell us what they're gonna do?[27]

1.36Consultation regularly takes the form of a ticker-box exercise that often occurs after the principal decisions to embark on projects have already been made, in environments that are unsafe, and often traumatising for First Peoples who attend. The Chief Minister herself stated in the public hearing that the Northern Territory Government has not obtained consent from Larrakia Custodians for Middle Arm, citing the fact that there are no land rights over the proposed site as a reason not to require consent. This statement is not only offensive to Larrakia Peoples, but completely lacks historical context and the role of colonial governments in land theft in the Greater Darwin region and the violent massacres and displacement that occurred. And despite admitting that consent is not required, the Northern Territory Government has constantly promoted its adherence to the principles of UNDRIP in a desperate attempt to gain social licence for this increasingly unpopular project.

1.37Additionally, inquiry participants highlighted that funding for the proposed Middle Arm Industrial Precinct had been agreed before key consultations and assessments on the project had been completed, and were even advertised on TV, as pointed out by Ms Cyan Sue-Lee.[28]

You're being consulted after the fact. They've already done it. You're just being consulted so they can tick a box: 'Yes, we consulted with them.[29]

Whether we consent or not, it's happening anyway. That's what we get told in every single meeting that happens on our land: 'It's going to happen anyway; you might as well benefit.' We don't want to benefit from the destruction of our land.[30]

Both the government and the Opposition announced they would fund Middle Arm in April 2022 during the federal election campaign. This was done without anyone speaking to Larrakia about these plan.[31]

1.38As outlined above, governments conducted themselves in direct contravention of the principles of free, prior and informed consent, at times openly manipulative, pitting community members against one another. These practices cause massive fractures within communities as per the evidence from Mr Eric Fejo who argued that governments had taken advantage of financial stress within Larrakia communities as well as exploited divisions between families in order to gain project approvals.[32]

The Northern Land Council is the negotiating mouthpiece between the people, the community and the government, no matter what government it is—NT or Australian government. When it comes to mining, it's a one-way street. Sure, they talk to the traditional owners, but in the end they're just looking for someone to sign the document. That's what these people are talking about: 'If you sign the document, you will get something for your efforts. You will get a benefit.' That's what's happening in the Beetaloo basin today. People who are little kids, who were born yesterday—they're not the traditional owners—are signing up, and they're causing division.[33]

They have been shutting us down and just going to those people and, I would say, bribing them: 'You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours; go ahead and do the mining.' That's been happening because it's not the traditional owners of those areas; it's just someone who's greedy and wanting money, and to be on the board of our advisory group to be able to get that mining set up.[34]

Recommendation 1

In line with the clear demands of Larrakia Custodians, the life threatening and ecocidal Middle Arm Industrial Precinct must not proceed, and colonial governments should instead divert the allocated funding and resources into projects that promote the health of Country and its people rather than threaten it.

Recommendation 2

The federal government’s support for the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct must be contingent upon the Northern Territory Government obtaining the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the Larrakia people.

Recommendation 3

The Northern Territory Government must not proceed with the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct until it has obtained the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the Larrakia people.

Recommendation 4

In developing a cultural values framework for engagement with Larrakia Peoples, the Northern Territory Government must engage in a broad consultation process that adheres to the principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent and engage on a grassroots level with all nine Larrakia families and appropriate knowledge-holders.

Recommendation 5

Implement the United Nations Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into domestic law to have full domestic effect and enshrine in law First Peoples’ rights to Free, Prior and Informed Consent.

Recommendation 6

Implement all recommendations from the 2023 Inquiry into the application of UNDRIP in Australia, including establishing a process for auditing existing legislation and policies against the principles of UNDRIP and developing a National Action Plan for the implementation of UNDRIP.

Recommendation 7

Northern Territory and federal governments must strengthen transparency and accountability obligations within Northern Territory Land Councils, with particular reference to:

governance arrangements and relations with mining companies;

proper management of conflicts of interest.

inequalities in the negotiating position of Traditional Owners; and

adherence with the principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent.

Recommendation 8

The federal parliament must conduct an inquiry into First Nations representative bodies, to inquire into the governance of Northern Territory Land Councils, Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) and Prescribed Body Corporates (PBCs), with particular reference to:

the effectiveness of the Native Title Act 1993, and related state and federal institutional and policy frameworks, in addressing inequalities in the negotiating position of First Peoples, and alignment with the principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent; and

opportunities for reforming existing institutional, legislative and policy frameworks, including new accountability or governance arrangements, to better advance the rights and economic, social, environmental and cultural aspirations of First Peoples.

Stolen Wealth: the theft and pillaging of Larrakia land

The…stench of colonisation still lingers in this country.[35]

1.39The attempts to establish the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct represent modern iterations of policies, practices and legislation that functionally work to continue the illegal colonial occupation, which maintains itself through the domination and removal of First Peoples from their homes, for access to our land and resources to sell to the highest bidder as part of the ongoing ecocide and genocide.

How can you mob be selling somebody else's land?[36]

They're not going to give us anything. They still want us dead. It's a genocide.[37]

Recent world events have seen terrible atrocities in the Middle East, where people are being systematically eradicated. I recognise that what is happening in Gaza has happened here. It has taken centuries for it to be acknowledged, and we are still living with the consequences.[38]

Recommendation 9

The Albanese Government must immediately begin a process of Truth-telling, so that we can tell the history of this place, learn about the ravages and destruction that has occurred to our lands and waterways, understand the exploitation of First Peoples and our natural resources and allow us all to heal.

Further destruction of Country at binybara/Lee Point

1.40It is important to highlight that during the course of this inquiry, Larrakia Custodians were fighting to protect their Country from multiple developments at once, including Defence Housing Australia’s destruction of Country and sacred sites at binybara/Lee Point. As Ms Adjurn stated:

You mob are forcing us to talk about just Middle Point, but Middle Point is connected to Lee Point, connected to the city, connected down to central. You mob are mucking up our waterways, which run and connect us all. You mob are forcing us to talk about this one area, Larrakia land. The whole lot—hands off; stop it. We're fighting for Lee Point and we're fighting for our whole land, but today we've got to sit here and talk about Middle Point like it doesn't affect everything else about us and our land. It's all humouring. You want to talk about the environmental impact, and I'm going to keep telling you: you are all trespassing on Larrakia law. You're trespassing and hurting our law. You mob are not abiding by our law. That's our water.[39]

Recommendation 10

Defence Housing Australia must immediately stop their ecocidal development at binybara/Lee Point and commence a process of returning control of this land to the custodianship of Larrakia peoples.

We have been talking, we have been coming to meetings and we have been talking to government people, but who's listening? No-one, because of the dollar signs in front of their eyes, because of the false promises that they make. They look at us and they just push us aside, like nothing. It's as if we don't exist, as if our culture and language don't exist. Who are we? We are nobody. We're nothing to them. The promises they make and the agreements they make with the mining companies are more important than the lives of our people, our future. They just push us aside like we're nothing.[40]

1.41It is well known that the fossil fuel industry is an aggressive and ubiquitous presence within Australian politics, and are substantial donors to Australia’s major political parties through both direct contributions and industry associations. Labor governments across the continent have been giving a green light to their mates and big donors in the fossil fuel industry, who continue to pollute and plunder our environment while ignoring First Peoples’ fundamental human rights. The profit reaped from these extractive, incredibly harmful industries, do not go back into the communities.

Make no mistake, the gas industry in Darwin has been constructed at Middle Arm on a foundation of profound distress and tragedy for Larrakia people. Our loss has been used as leverage in the service of gas company profits that has already destroyed so much and wants to destroy more. The Middle Arm gas and petrochemical hub is the latest incarnation of the violence by the state on Larrakia people. It is no accident that it was recommended by former Labor Chief Minister Paul Henderson and is being pursued by the NT Labor Government without the consent of Larrakia people, given this history.[41]

We consistently see the oil and gas industry being given privilege of access to our political representatives above communities and constituents. While we were holding protest playgroups outside our former Chief Minister's office to request meetings regarding our climate concerns and their noncompliance with recommendation 9.8 of the Pepper inquiry, we know that at the same time the NT government was meeting with the oil and gas industry, as the only stakeholder, on their policy plans requiring net zero for new gas projects—a policy which they abandoned after strong objections from the gas industry[42]

You know, when we look at land we don't look at it with dollar signs; we look at land as an identity of who we are and how we're connected to that land. We don't look at it with dollar signs. That's why we protect the land. We've been protecting it for thousands of years, and we still fight for it and protect it.[43]

Getting onto the Middle Arm project, our family does not support $3.5 billion corporate welfare to these companies, which are mostly foreign, when our essential services, our roads, our hospitals and our people are all under the pump. There's no money for housing, or at least until the other day when the proposal come up there for housing. The locals can't get any money, but these foreign companies seem to dig $3.5 billion out of thin air.[44]

We're now staring down the barrel of more poor planning by myopic, money-hungry politicians and corporations. The expansion of the Middle Arm hub will poison and destroy more vital mangrove ecosystems that feed our harbour, Kenbi Kenbi. It will destroy our songlines and our Dreaming science, and it will poison our waters. I don't care what anyone says—that they're going to do it safely, that it's going to be green, that it's going to be good for us. I don't believe it. It's been proven for hundreds of years that that is a lie and that it will be poisoned … It will poison our water. Maybe people think it doesn't affect them. Maybe the decision-makers think that it doesn't affect them and their homes in Canberra or Sydney, wherever, hundreds of thousands of kilometres away, but even if you can't see it is all connected. It will affect everyone in this room, on this planet.[45]

Recommendation 11

Urgent reform is needed to restore trust in government decision making by removing the influence of the fossil fuel industry from politics, including electoral reforms, banning political donations from fossil fuel companies, and proper investigation and recourse into conflicts of interest relating to all politicians and their staff.

Protect Country and Culture

I am gravely concerned about the future of my country if this development proceeds. It is culturally unsafe. It will involve interfering with land that is sacred. Aboriginal understandings of land don't involve clear boundaries. If you disturb one part of the land it will be felt elsewhere, in the same way that a spider can feel a movement anywhere on the web. Pushing ahead with this development against the wishes, clearly expressed, of Aboriginal people would be the opposite of respectful cultural dialogue. It would be yet another sorry chapter in the history of the genocide of Aboriginal people.[46]

Money can't save you from the cancer that's going to be caused by these toxic chemicals, and money cannot save anyone from climate change. It may not be as soon as it affects us, as First Nations people, as marginalised people, but it will catch up with everyone—with your children and their children as well.

We have so many Larrakia people displaced on their country, with our children being locked up with no other avenues or options, with our health clinics and our hospitals overflowing, with overcrowded public housing and with our community crying for support—support to heal from the destruction and damage caused at the hands of colonisers.[47]

1.42The First Peoples of these lands and waters connect to Country as if it is our mother, and we love, nurture and respect Country like we do our mother. The water that runs through our country is like the blood that runs through the veins of our mother, giving us life. If we continue to bring harm to our Country, we ultimately bring harm to ourselves. Mr Fejo states:

We the Larrakia see the cultural and natural environment as one, connected together. If you destroy the natural environment, then you also destroy the cultural environment.[48]

The culture, the heritage and the laws are linked to this land. The crocodiles, the turtles, the fishes and all the marine life you see—it's me, my people and my ancestors. The seas, the beaches, the mangroves, the creeks and the rivers you see—it's me, my people and my ancestors. All the birds and the animals you see—it's me, my people and my ancestors. The flowers, the plants and the trees you see—it's me, my people and my ancestors.[49]

1.43First Nations people shared extensive knowledge and expertise on the hugely detrimental health and environmental impacts that government facilitated extraction and pollution has caused. However, the expertise of the knowledge holders of the land, experts of their own country, the committee failed to include their evidence in the section of “environmental impacts” or health impacts cramming all First Peoples into one neat chapter. First Peoples knowledge and cultural authority needs to be seen, and heard as the expert testimony that it is.

We have that wisdom, knowledge and understanding of all this. You're scientists and medical doctors; we are also scientists and medical doctors. We are professional people in our own right, as Indigenous people of Australia. We have our own laws and systems that we must abide by—laws that have been set in place since way back in the Dreamtime, laws that will never, ever change.[50]

Dead fish were floating, with poison in their body. Why? Because it's coming from where they are doing the Beetaloo basin. We went around there. We saw the waste, the open pond…They're bringing up all this poison, and it's flowing into the creek, into the river, all the way down to Lake Woods.[51]

This new method of mining is very highly dangerous. Sixty-four thousand years ago, we walked on this land. We only dug to survive. We only did this little bit on the surface. But why? We didn't dig seven kilometres down for just one lousy goanna. We knew there were heavy metal structures underground. We never touched it. We were taught by our grandfathers not to touch it.[52]

These areas are now no good for fishing and no good for collecting longbum or periwinkle because they are contaminated by the effects of rapid destruction of our homes. They are poisoned. What once was a food source, a source of connection to country and culture, is now poison. It is an eerie feeling knowing that both the continuing expansion of Darwin and the future planned projects will poison and decimate our country…a commitment of $1.5 billion to be spent on poisoning our country, a commitment of $1.5 billion to be spent on making us sick, a commitment of $1.5 billion to be spent on ensuring that my young sons won't get to take their children fishing and hunting like my dad took me.[53]

If you want to talk about offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas joints, I can only comment on how this has affected my people, the Larrakia. Even after witnessing the effects on pods of whales, there have been underwater seismic depth charges done. I've seen these whales firsthand; when these charges have taken place, thousands of miles away, these whales have gone into disarray. You guys need to go out and witness that yourselves. It is quite distressing to watch these whales. Just recently we had a whale go up one of our creek systems, and we had experts come out and say: 'This is quite natural. This whale has obviously lost its way.' Alarm bells! Whales don't lose their way; these actions the petroleum industry does make it happen.[54]

Governments, politicians, political lobbyists, and public decision makers who have the power to make decisions about Larrakia country need to understand that Larrakia cultural heritage is grounded in the woodlands, monsoon forests, mangrove country, tidal flats, rock outcrops, the ridge country, and the underground freshwater springs. Destroying the natural environment also destroys Larrakia culture.[55]

Recommendation 12

Governments must ensure that First Peoples’ perspectives and ecological knowledge are given at least equal weight to Western science so that the cultural authority of First Peoples can be embedded in all environmental policy, practices and approaches to nature protection, including ecological surveys, evaluations and decision making.

1.44The federal government has committed to Truth and Treaty, and it needs to make good on those promises.

What a travesty it is, that despite this history – despite Larrakia leadership and our foundational role in the movement for land rights and treaty - to this day the state has completely failed to recognise us. Our calls for land rights and a treaty remain unanswered.[56]

Truth-telling has got to start now, not in 50 years and not in 40 years. Youse need to start talking treaty.[57]

The Larrakia calls for a treaty have been going on for some time now, since the seventies. There's a mutual benefit there. If the Territory had a framework in engaging with Larrakia, they would know how to engage with Larrakia. In the absence of that, they're doing what they're doing at the moment.[58]

Recommendation 13

The federal Government must immediately begin a Treaty process with all Sovereign First Peoples, which will enable all language groups to uphold their cultural authority over Country and self-determine their own aspirations.

1.45This inquiry has revealed that through their actions, the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments have committed severe human rights violations, contravening the UNDRIP, right to a healthy environment, and endangered the very right to life of First Nations peoples through ecocidal and genocidal policies. These policies have trapped First Nations People in poverty, powerlessness, and the abuse of their culture and land. Governments across this continent must stop investing in the destruction of our land and instead prioritise the health, happiness, and future of those who depend on its survival.

Don't think about the money that we're going to lose; think about our health and wellbeing, for every person living in this land and beyond.[59]

I believe that all that money could be spent on Country being developed and on better infrastructure and housing as well—that's important—and better health and roads for my people throughout the Northern Territory.[60]

There is only one First Nations domestic violence shelter in Darwin, which is always at capacity. There are only two small youth centres in Darwin. There is no funding for our youth diversion and rehabilitation programs to help our kids out of the school-to-prison vacuum, yet the topic of youth crime is hot every single day. Our only public hospital is in a constant state of code yellow, and there are Larrakia people homeless on their homelands. There is no native title and recognition for the custodians of this country, the Larrakia people. There are zero homeless shelters, yet, as I'm sure you have all seen, our streets are full of homeless people with nowhere safe to go, and there's a two- to three-week waitlist to access the only Aboriginal medical service in this town, because it is at capacity.[61]

We didn't need support before colonisation. We were self-sufficient. We were living in harmony. With all of that, was there no other thought of where that $1.5 billion could be invested? This is an opportunity to repair and repent for a fraction of that damage. I would like to see even some—just some—of that money invested back into Larrakia land to protect and preserve what little intact country, culture and people we have left.[62]

Please pass this message on to the Albanese government: stop spending billions and billions of dollars on a company that's going to destroy us, our children, our future generations and our land. Start putting something back into our community—into our town camp roads, housing, health and everything in our community that needs to be fixed.[63]

Recommendation 14

The federal government must withdraw the $1.5 billion it has committed to this destructive project and reinvest it into lifesaving housing, health, and other much needed lifesaving services.

Recommendation 15

Current and future governments must not approve any new fossil fuel projects if we are to meet our emissions reduction obligations under the Paris Agreement.

Recommendation 16

Current and future governments must ensure that all proposed energy projects, including fracking in the Beetaloo Basin, offshore gas projects and carbon capture and storage projects, undergo rigorous environmental assessments that include:

a requirement to obtain the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of First Peoples whose lands are impacted;

proper consideration of climate impacts, including Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions of projects; and

ensuring that new environmental and cultural heritage laws, once introduced, apply to all proposals that have not yet received final approval.

Recommendation 17

The federal Minister for Environment and Water must call in Tamboran and Empire Energy’s gas fracking wells for assessment under the EPBC water trigger.

Recommendation 18

The federal government must use all the tools at its disposal to ensure the Northern Territory Government adheres to all recommendations of the Pepper Inquiry, particularly addressing noncompliance with Recommendation 9.8 that requires all Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions from fracking projects to be offset.

Recommendation 19

The federal government must implement in full all recommendations from the 2021 A Way Forward: Final report into the destruction of Indigenous heritage sites at Juukan Gorge, including introducing new standalone cultural heritage legislation as a matter of urgency.

Recommendation 20

The federal environmental laws must urgently be reformed to ensure that the full impacts on Country, culture and climate of projects like the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct can be properly assessed, including:

reforming the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) to include a climate trigger;

amending the EPBC Act water trigger to include consideration of the cultural values of water resources and carbon capture and storage projects;

establishing legally enforceable National Environmental Standards, including a First Nations Standard for Participation and Engagement in Decision-Making; and

ensuring new environmental laws and National Environmental Standards align with new cultural heritage laws to protect any further destruction to First Nations tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

1.46I wish to end this report with a poem taken from Uprising of the People’s submission:

White man’s way laughs at our understanding, and says that if everything is sacred then nothing is sacred. We disagree.

White man’s way makes us prioritise importance of endangered species over other species. We know they are all integral to that place.

White man's way makes us prioritise one site over another and create a competition of significance.

We see that if you destroy that site and the sites around it you are destroying the story. Our stories live in the country, the waters and the skies. As the people of that place, we are obliged by our laws to keep that country protected.[64]

Senator Lidia Thorpe

Participating Member

Footnotes

[1]Ms June Mills, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 3.

[2]Ms Arbei Adjrun, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 2.

[3]Ms Danella Lee, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 2.

[4]Mr Matthew Cubillo, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 3.

[5]Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee, Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill 2023 [Provisions], Blak Sovereign Movement, Submission 111, p. 1.

[6]Mr Eric Fejo, Submission 112, p. 8.

[7]United Nations, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007, Article 32.

[8]Australian Human Rights Commission, Social Justice Report 2010, Appendix 4: Elements of a common understanding of free, prior and informed consent. Retrieved, 2010; United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner, Free, Prior and Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples, 2013, p. 2.

[9]Mr David Kurnoth, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 7.

[10]Mr Eric Fejo, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 11 April 2024, p. 75.

[11]Ms Arbei Adjrun, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 8.

[12]Mr Bill Risk OAM, Submission 193, p. 2.

[13]Ms Jamilah Mills, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 8.

[14]Excerpt from Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 21.

[15]Lisa Cox, ‘We need help’: traditional owners accuse land council of ‘facilitating fracking’, The Guardian, 20 June 2023.

[16]Northern Land Council, answers to questions on notice, 11 April 2024 (received 10 May 2024).

[17]Mr Samuel Sandy, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024. p. 23.

[18]Nurrdalinji Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, Submission 57, p. 17.

[19]Ms Lorraine Williams, Elder, Uprising of the People Ltd, Proof Committee Hansard, 11 April 2024, p. 32.

[20]Ms Arbei Adjrun, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 8.

[21]Mr Kurnoth, Private capacity, ProofCommittee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 7.

[22]Ms Elaine Sandy, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 23.

[23]Ms Janet Gregory, Director, Nurrdalinji Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, Proof Committee Hansard, 11 April 2024, p. 32.

[24]Ms Rosina Farrell, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 25.

[25]EDO, Submission 33, p. 19.

[26]Ms Rosina Farrell, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 25.

[27]Ms Cyan Sue- Lee, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 12.

[28]Ms Cyan Sue- Lee, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansards, 10 April 2024, p. 11.

[29]Mr Matthew Cubillo, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansards, 10 April 2024, p. 11.

[30]Ms Arbei Adjrun, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansards, 10 April 2024, p. 11.

[31]Mr Eric Fejo, Submission 112, pp. 9−10.

[32]Mr Eric Fejo, Submission 112, pp. 7−8.

[33]Ms Janet Gregory, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 23.

[34]Ms Elaine Sandy, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 23.

[35]Mr Eric Fejo, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 11 April 2024, p. 76.

[36]Mr Matthew Cubillo, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 4.

[37]Ms June Mills, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 21.

[38]Mr Eric Fejo, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 11 April 2024, p. 76.

[39]Ms Arbei Adjurn, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard 10 April 2024, p. 15.

[40]Ms Janet Gregory, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 18.

[41]Mr Eric Fejo, Submission 112, p. 4.

[42]Ms Alice Nagy, Member, Parents for Climate Darwin and NT, Proof Committee Hansard, p. 29.

[43]Mr Gadrian Hoosan, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 21.

[44]Mr Daniel Tapp, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 27.

[45]Ms Cyan Sue-Lee, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 5.

[46] Mr Eric Fejo, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 11 April 2024, p. 76.

[47] Ms Cyan Sue-Lee, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 5.

[48] Mr Eric Fejo, Submission 112, pp. 5 and 7.

[49] Ms Mary Williams, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 2.

[50] Ms Miliwanga Wurrben, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 16.

[51] Ms Janet Gregory, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 18.

[52] Mr Samuel Sandy, ProofCommittee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 18.

[53] Ms Sharna Alley, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, pp. 8−9.

[54] Mr David Kurnoth, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 6.

[55] Mr Eric Fejo, Submission 112, p. 7.

[56] Mr Eric Fejo, Submission 112, p. 2.

[57] Mr Matthew Cubillo, Private capacity, ProofCommittee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 5.

[58] Mr Dominic Gomez, Principal Legal Officer, Northern Land Council, ProofCommittee Hansard, 11 April 2024, p. 56.

[59] Ms Terri Cubillo, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 6.

[60] Mr Samuel Janama Sandy, Chair, Nurrdalinji Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 33.

[61] Ms Sharna Alley, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 8.

[62] Ms Cyan Sue-Lee, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 5.

[63] Mr Gadrian Hoosan, Private capacity, Proof Committee Hansard, 10 April 2024, p. 18.

[64] Uprising of the People, Submission 2, p. 2.