The Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation is suing the WA government in the Federal Court to force them to clean up the asbestos contamination on its country from the Wittenoom mine.
Gordon Legal commenced legal proceedings against the WA government in the Victorian Federal Court this morning.
Deputy Chair, and a Banjima traditional owner, Johnnell Parker, said: “We Banjima people belong to one of the most beautiful parts of the world, and our connection to Banjima country runs deep”.
“As Uncle Maitland Parker said: ‘I still cry for country, but that’s imbedded in me, I just can’t walk away from it.’
“Despite the damage, our elders have raised us to be strong and resilient. We carry in our hearts their strength as we continue the fight, to heal our country, to protect it, and to ensure future generations can stand on healthy land and remain connected to who they are.”
The Wittenoom asbestos mine closed 60 years ago but the mined asbestos has made the surrounding area extremely hazardous and forced the closure of the Wittenoom townsite.
The group says Banjima people have the highest rates of asbestos cancer in the world and want the government to remediate contaminated areas.
The Banjima people are also seeking redress for the devastation the mine wrought over the past eighty years.
Gordon legal senior partner Peter Gordon said the relocation, dispossession, exploitation, and erosion of the cultural integrity of the Banjima nation will take generations to repair.
“But the longest journey to clean up the largest contaminated site in the Southern Hemisphere begins with a single step.”
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