Australia, Aboriginal people challenge agricultural giant for water rights

In Australia, Aboriginal people are fighting against the license granted by the Northern Territory Government to Fortune Agribusiness, which is a huge agricultural trading company owned by China. Appeal filed by CLC (Central Land Council) against the Supreme Court comes from the indignation of the people who have taken refuge in it Mpwerempwer Aboriginal Company to throw legal challenge He urged the government to change direction. Because the latter has chosen to give the agricultural giant the largest license to extract groundwater ever created: a free one that will allow it to extract up to 40,000 megaliters of groundwater annuallyFor a 30-year-old beauty. Water will be drawn from aquifers below Singleton Station, about 400 kilometers north of Alice Springs. This concession dates back to April 2021 and until then the mobilization tried to prevent The largest private water source in the region. However, after a review in November 2021, the NT government still chose to confirm the license with some changes to the terms.

Why the aborigines continue to support indifference and unfairness the decision of the government, given that Indigenous cultural rights over the water. What the indigenous people demand through Mpwerempwer Aboriginal Company is to completely revoke the license granted to the Chinese agricultural giant, and suspend concessions, at least until the review of the regional water allocation plan is completed. So, on Wednesday, the Criminal Law Commission submitted the appeal to the Supreme Court, outlining how the government’s choice violatedNT . Water Code And not only. I saw The consequences of climate change In desert communities, granting water extraction of this caliber is harmful and risky for such vulnerable lands. However, the license was granted without sufficient groundwater data and could lead to Fortune Agribusiness To do more than the franchise provides.

As expected, the company determined that the project to be implemented, with a total value of $150 million and 3,500 hectares of land to be cultivated, could be socially and economically beneficial to the indigenous population, and promised the citizens 100 permanent and 1,300 seasonal jobs. Also, from the top of the company They knew to me Watchman That after receiving the complaint from CLC on Wednesday, there is an absolute intent to cooperate and meet all requests and requirements. The fact remains that those who have always lived on Australian territory have original property rights over access to and use of water, but are in fact completely deprived of the possibility to choose whether the wealth can be used for commercial purposes and to enjoy the proceeds of any choice. Indigenous peoples again find themselves negative subjects toward choices made from above with the typical patriarchal “willingness to do good” approach. A method similar to that of colonial times “Primitive peoples” from “barbarians” to be educated and civilized.

[di Francesca Naima]