Lillian’s Eden
Page 26
The Wororras are one of three tribes in the North West Kimberley region of Western Australia where the Wandjinas are found in caves. Both human in form and cloud-like, their elaborate head-dresses not only represent the hair of the Wandjinas, but the lightning in the clouds of the Wandjina spirit. Rather than being inherited works of art, many Indigenous people believe the Wandjina spirits left their images in the caves, like the ones I saw on Bigge Island.
By 4.15 am the wind howls and moans. We are at anchor. Unlike the other boats in the lagoon we were not lucky enough to secure a mooring. The cruising guide had warned us of the perils of being stuck there in rough weather. With no internet or weather forecast, the sudden change has caught us offguard.
The night is spent with Grant anxiously checking the anchor line until daybreak. If we drag here, we have nowhere to go, not to mention about what we might do to the coral.
When the wind thankfully abates by lunchtime the following day, we head for a 14-hour sail to Great Keppel Island. After dropping anchor at 4 am, in the first light of morning, I see a rainbow bouncing across the face of each Wandjina. The day is picture perfect with fringing reefs a stone’s throw away. MiLady is only a few days away from her new home. She will be the second boat we have brought to the Whitsundays. We harbour a kernel of hope that the coral will survive for at least our lifetime. More than that, we will do everything in our power to help it survive even longer.
Professor Terry Hughes should perhaps have the last word. After all, he and his team have witnessed firsthand over many years what is happening to the Great Barrier Reef. In a new study from the ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies, published in Nature, Hughes points out that while we’ve now lost close to half of the corals in shallow-water habitats across the northern two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef due to back-to-back bleaching over two consecutive years, “that still leaves a billion or so corals alive, and on average, they are tougher than the ones that died. We need to focus urgently on protecting the glass that’s still half full, by helping these survivors to recover.”
Hughes previously has noted247 that it might take several decades for reefs to recover especially the oldest and largest colonies and, of course, that depends on whether there will be further bleaching, not to mention other threats like crown of thorns starfish and water quality. Bleached coral, points out Hughes, has lower reproductive output. But we can’t, no matter how hard, give up. Researchers from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) published in their Report that the dropping profits from the oil and gas markets outline the increasing frailty of the profit margins around fossil fuels.
As Bill McKibben, a Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College and founder of 350.org writes in The Guardian,248 the increasing viability of renewables through their affordability is helped by the climate movement, according to IEEFA. That movement is a material financial risk to those who profiteer from fossil fuels. That, and the fact that the climate activists have joined with such an increasingly diverse set of allies – particularly the Indigenous Rights Movement to make corporations accountable by targeting banks and financial institutions. The Report details a series of recommendations on how to hurt the industry most by creating delays that “turn a marginal project into a cancelled one” to “strategic litigation” and “changing the narrative.”
We need to wake up to our predicament. Keep fighting.
Stanley Douglas, the Indigenous narrator of Songlines whose knowledge has been passed on from his forebears, describes what is meant by Tjukurpa. This Indigenous word, which refers to the creation period, echoes in the present. It is about religion, law and identity. An Indigenous person who loses their Tjukurpa loses their past, present and future and becomes unstuck from their place in the world.
His words might just as well be describing our plight.
Endnotes
Chapter 1: The Courting of a Mining Magnate
1 Long term warming trend continued in 2017;
2 Magnate who plans to ship coal through Reef accused of exploitation;
3 According to an ABC article, none of the other mayors published the details of any gifts or hospitality online. Adani bought India flights for Queensland mayors of councils paying $30m for airstrip;
4 Turnbull was referring to the Full Federal Court decision in 2017 in the McGlade case which upheld that under the Native Title Act all traditional owners who were registered claimants needed to sign an Indigenous land use agreement or the agreement was invalid. This put in doubt 126 projects including the Adani mine.
5 According to The Australian Financial Review, Adani had requested Turnbull to ‘fix’ Native Title laws in order to clear the way for the Carmichael mine. Malcolm Turnbull tells Adani native title issues will be ‘fixed’;
6 Indigenous recognition in our Constitution matters – and will need greater political will to achieve;
7 An internal investigation by the Federal Environment Department later found in February 2018 that in omitting to reveal this fact Adani “may have been negligent.” Government considered prosecuting Adani over CEO’s link to company convicted over environmental disaster;
8 In response to a further story by Willacy about the issue, an Adani spokesman told the ABC that the company and Mr Janakaraj stood by their earlier comments that Mr Janakaraj was committed to proactive good environmental management.
9 A review of the Adani group’s environmental history in the context of the Carmichael coal mine approval;
10 The Brief also commented “especially given the current lack of an emergency response plan or availability of emergency funding for dealing with damage to coral reefs following a shipping incident in the GBR, as demonstrated by the Shen Neng 1 coal ship grounding, which was still not cleaned up six years later.”
11 Goa’s pollution control board issues notices to MPT, two port operators;
12 Adani: Remote Prospects Carmichael Status Update 2017;
13 Tim Buckley, authorised personal communication to author, June 2018.
14 Tim Buckley and Simon Nicholas: Adani Godda Power Project: Too Expensive, Too Late and Too Risky for Bangladesh;
15 Adani’s Carmichael Mine is unbankable says Queensland Treasury;
16 Digging Into Adani;
17 Coal from Carmichael mine “will create more annual emissions than New York”;
18 Impassioned Turnbull defends climate change science;
19 Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway (2010) Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. Bloomsbury Publishing, London.
20 Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions;
Chapter 2: The Dirty Truth
21 Air pollution killed 81,000 in Delhi and Mumbai, cost Rs 70,000 crore in 2015;
22 The American Geophysical Union journal Earth’s Future;
23 India: A huge electrification milestone with big questions – 10 industry leaders weigh in;
24 Living in the Dark: 240 Million Indians Have No Electricity;
25 Low ash, low sulphur and low phosphorus used to create coke for iron and steel making.
26 Burned for steam to run turbines to generate electricity. The coal is ground to a powder and fired into a boiler to create steam.
27 Coal exports by country;
28 G20 Governments propping up fossil fuel exploration;
29 Energy Policies of IEA Countries;
30 This report gives a detailed analysis of Australia’s energy policies.
31 The Finkel Review at a glance;
32 The geographical distribution of fossil fuels unused when limiting global warming to 2°C;
33 For a comprehensive timeline of events see Carbon tax: a timeline of its tortuous history in Australia;
34 A snip at $22m to get rid of PM;
35 Mark Butler (2017) Climate Wars. Melbourne University Publishing, Melbourne.
36 How Australia bungled climate policy to cerate a decade of disappointment;
37 David Richardson and Richard Denniss (2011) ‘Mining the truth: the rhetoric and reality of the commodities boom’. The Australia Institute, Canberra.
38 Labor Market Information Portal – Mining;
39 How Many People Work in the Coal Industry;
40 Company profits surge as wages fall;
41 The tip of the iceberg: Political donations from the mining industry;
42 Clive Palmer faces ‘$1.4bn clean-up’ for nickel refinery;
43 Clive Palmer’s assets frozen by Brisbane Supreme Court;
44 Great Barrier Reef pollution: FOI documents in full;
45 Clive Palmer’s nickel refinery pumped toxic waste into Great Barrier Reef park;
46 Clive Palmer company ‘approves’ reopening of nickel refinery;
47 According to Tim Buckley and Simon Nicholas’ Report ‘Adani: Remote Prospects’ (Carmichael Status 2017 Update), Adani acquired the coal deposit for a collective $A680 million. Buckley and Richardson state that initially Adani paid $500 million in August 2010, then in August 2014 paid A$155 million for the A$2/tonne coal royalty rights and paid A$25 million for the adjacent EPC 1080 from Mineralogy Pty Ltd tenement;
48 Former Linc energy head ordered to clean up site of controversial gas project;
49 Linc Energy trial hears company ‘did nothing’ to stop its alleged contamination continuing;
50 Linc Energy fined $4.5 million for serious environmental harm at underground coal gasification plant;
51 Linc Energy;
52 Insolvency Law Update – an insolvent company’s environmental obligations: the case of Linc Energy Ltd;
Chapter 3: ‘The Custodians’ of the Great Barrier Reef
53 Unpublished and Untitled Research Paper, James Cook University, Townsville.
54 Report on the Reactive Monitoring Mission to the Great Barrier Reef (Australia), 6–14 March 2012;
55 Investigation of contaminant levels in green turtles from Gladstone: final report;
56 Department of State Development Annual Report 2014-2015;
57 Ban on capital dredge material disposal;
58 Review of Governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority;
59 Half-a-billion dollars for the Great Barrier Reef;
60 Marine Turtle Conservation, Research and Monitoring Strategy;
61 Unpublished and Untitled Research Paper, James Cook University, Townsville.
62 Marine (dugong and turtle) strandings update 2017;
63 Links Between Water Quality and Marine Turtle Health;
64 Great Barrier Reef turtles exposed to thousands of chemicals;
65 High metal levels found in Queensland turtle blood;
66 The Reef 2050 Plan;
67 State of Conservation – Great Barrier Reef;
68 Queensland Resources Council denies urging Great Barrier Reef experts to ignore climate change;
69
Bessell-Browne, P. et al., (2017) ‘Impacts of turbidity on corals: The relative importance of light limitation and suspended sediments’. Marine Pollution Bulletin;
Chapter 4: The Midas Touch – Gujarat Open For Business – At What Cost?
70 Meet the landholders of the Galilee Basin;
71 Gina Rinehart flew MPs to India for lavish wedding;
72 Coalition MPs in ‘overseas study’ claim for wedding;
73 Alpha Coal Mine Case;
74 Adani Carmichael coal mine Land Court objection;
75 Adani Carmichael Supreme Court EA Judicial Review;
76 Hancock Galilee Pty Ltd v Currie & Ors [2017] QLC 35;
77 Alpha coal mine Court of Appeal challenge;
78 Alpha Coal Mine Case;
79 Narendra Modi ‘allowed’ Gujarat 2002 anti-Muslim riots;