by Ian W Taylor
CHAPTER FIVE
TUESDAY - YELLOW WATER -THE CONFERENCE
Jake woke early and decided to have a pre-breakfast run through the hotel grounds and around the golf course. The resort was located in a beautiful tropical setting with paths running through colourful gardens and lagoons which at that time in the morning were full of birdlife. Jake jogged along a path admiring the scenery in the early morning light. He did a circuit round the golf course and returned to his room, showered and dressed for the day’s session.
He went down to the breakfast room just before 7 am which was starting to fill up with officials from both the Australian and Japanese delegation. He wandered over to the buffet and saw that there was a choice of western or Japanese food. Jake was amused to find traditional Japanese foods laid out across the table. A Japanese chef had been flown in from a leading restaurant in Sydney to supervise meals for the Japanese contingent. He helped himself to some ramen, sushi and orange juice and found a small table on the terrace where he could watch the goings-on of the various groups huddled together in deep conversations. He finished off his meal with tea and toast and studied the faces of members of the Japanese delegation, many of which he recognised. He moved across the room greeting a number of the Japanese officials and business representatives who he knew well from spending five years in Tokyo.
Suddenly he was touched lightly on the shoulder and spun around to see Saito Watabe from the Japanese Ministry of the Economy. Saito was beaming at him and said in Japanese
“Ah Jake so good to see you again, how are you my honourable friend?”
Jake shook his hand vigorously and replied in Japanese “Welcome back to Australia Saito-san, I’m sure we will have some fun while you are here although we don’t have a Kato here.”
Jake knew Saito well and had spent many a late night drinking and eating with him and some of his colleagues at some of Tokyo’s best restaurants. The Kato was their favourite drinking hole. Saito had a bright personality and was always the last to leave the drinking sessions. He had invited Jake to his home to have dinner with his lovely wife and children several times and at one time had tried to set Jake up with his wife’s sister.
“There doesn’t look like much time for fun in the next few days but hopefully we will sign this agreement and then have some celebrations,” responded Saito.
“Yeah, let’s do that, I’ll catch up with you shortly around the negotiating table.”
After asking about the well-being of Saito’s wife and children, Jake walked back to his room, picked up his briefing papers and headed towards the conference room housing the Market Access Working Group. While Jenny Antrim was the leader of the Australian delegation on the panel, Jake was a key player in the discussions given his deep knowledge of the issues from a commercial point of view and sat in his allocated seat next to Jenny.
Gradually, members of both delegations arrived, all wearing business attire and carrying thick brief cases. There were about twenty delegates from each side, representing various government agencies in food and agriculture, manufacturing industry, minerals, customs, finance and foreign affairs and trade as well as industry bodies and business councils. There were also interpreters from both sides.
After a few quiet words to Jenny, Jake got up from his seat and helped himself to a cup of coffee and readied himself for a long, arduous session. Jenny then called the meeting to order, welcomed the Japanese delegation, set out the objectives of the session and introduced the Australian delegates. She paused from time to time so the interpreter could translate her words into Japanese. Her Japanese counterpart responded in Japanese, also pausing for the translation.
Jake became increasingly frustrated with the proceedings, knowing that virtually all the Japanese could understand and speak English but that the process had to continue. Eventually, the discussion turned to the key issues, starting with access into the Japanese market for Australian food and agricultural products. The items were listed one by one; beef, dairy products, fruit and vegetables, wheat, rice, sugar and so on, all of which were subject to some form of quantitative restrictions (quotas) or tariffs. Jake listened as the Japanese trotted out the familiar reasons why these products could only be included in an agreement if these restrictions could be phased out over a period of up to fifteen years or more. He sighed, realising that only a political intervention could break the impasse. Then the Japanese side made its requests starting with the removal of Australian tariffs on imports of Japanese motor vehicles and parts.
The discussions moved on but neither side were prepared to make major concessions to break the deadlock. Better progress was being made at the Working Group on Investment and Services with some concessions agreed in providing better access for services into both countries. Australia agreed to look at a dispute settlement mechanism for Japanese investment in Australia but held the line on changes to foreign ownership of mineral resources. The only positive news was that the Defence Cooperation Group had made steady progress in defining areas where closer cooperation could take place.
The talks continued on through the day with only a short lunch break but still there was no real advance on the key issues as each side stuck to its long held positions. Despite long-winded expositions from members of both sides, few concessions were made. By 4 p.m. the joint chairmen agreed to break up the working groups early to allow each side to work separately on the issues that evening in preparation for the Plenary Session with Ministers the next day.
TUESDAY AFTERNOON -THE MINE AT JABIRU
As he had a couple of hours to kill before dinner, Jake thought he would drive to Jabiru to take a look at the mine. He climbed into the Land Cruiser and drove the short distance to Jabiru. The town was well laid-out, tidy and quiet, with neat houses and modern shops surrounded by parkland. It had a population of only 1200, mainly aboriginal. Jake drove through the town onto the road to the uranium mine.
When he approached the mine site he could see that things were anything but quiet. There was a large group of protesters standing outside the gates, waving banners and chanting slogans. In total there would have to be over 150 people there. A large team of security guards formed a barrier outside the gates. They were backed up by local Northern Territory (NT) Police and members of the Australian Federal Police. Jake parked the wagon on the side of the road, and looked around to see if he could identify anyone. He saw some media people and camera crews and recognised the petite figure of Helen Kwang. He walked over to her.
“Hi Helen, I thought I might find you here.”
“Hello Jake I didn’t expect to see you here, what has the conference finished already?” she enquired somewhat cynically.
“No, we’re just having a break before we re-group after dinner. What’s happening here?”
“It’s looking nasty Jake, there’s a lot of opposition to this mine. The aboriginals in particular are angry as they say they never gave permission to build another mine here on their land. But there’s also the greenies, the anti-free traders, the peaceniks, the anti-uranium group, a large contingent from the Japanese anti-nuclear group, some locals as well as the usual professional protesters. There was a clash with the security staff this morning when the protesters tried to force their way through the front gate. I think things could get ugly when the Prime Ministers arrive to officially launch the mine on Friday.”
They chatted for a few more minutes before Jake took his leave of Helen and decided to take a look around.
The mine was a huge open pit where the uranium ore was extracted and transported to the nearby plant and processed into a concentrated uranium called yellow cake. The pit had created a huge scar in an area of woodland. Jake noticed the mine had an electrified fence all the way around its perimeter and saw some German shepherd dogs tied up by chains inside the complex. He could also see the train, its trucks loaded with yellow cake ready to make the journey to Darwin along the newly built railway line. He noticed some security officers guarding the train.
Among the
protest groups he saw a tent with the black, yellow and red aboriginal flag and walked up to an old bearded man sitting on a canvas chair, brushing away flies vigorously.
“G’day mate, do you know a guy called Barry Buckstone?”
“Who wants to know?” he replied offhandedly.
“Jake Stafford, I’m a friend of his sister Lizzie.”
“Oh, hey Baz, there’s a guy here who says he knows Lizzie,” the old guy yelled into the opening of the tent.
A bearded lanky man walked out of the tent. He looked at Jake quizzically and asked, “You know Lizzie?”
“Well, I’ve really only just met her. She was staying with my dad, Bill, at Daly Waters when I visited there last weekend. She told me to look you up if I got the chance when I was up here.”
“Ah, so you’re Bill’s boy. He’s a good man is Bill,” Barry smiled as he shook Jake’s hand, showing gleaming white teeth. “This old bugger is Larry Wilpena,” he said pointing to his companion.
“Come inside out of the heat, we’ve just made a pot of billy tea”. Barry wheeled Jake into the tent.
“How do you take it?” asked Barry.
“As it comes, thanks,” replied Jake. Barry poured the steaming tea into a cup and handed it to him. Jake could smell the fragrance of the tea which was enhanced by eucalyptus leaves floating in the pot.
While sipping his tea, Jake explained how he came to meet Lizzie and what he was doing in Kakadu. Barry nodded his head while Jake outlined the conference and the intention to negotiate a treaty with Japan.
“Yeah all I know about treaties is that the indigenous people can’t get one with the Australian Government, but we sure as hell ain’t happy with this mine they’ve developed. I’m a representative of the Binugy people on the Kakadu Land Council and most of us are dead set against building a mine here. In the 1970’s we had given the miners permission to build the original Ranger mine about ten kilometres from here but once the ore petered out, the land was supposed to revert to the National Park.”
“Now the miners have an agreement which allows mining here. There’s been a lot of in-fighting in the Land Council. There’s something fishy going on. The Prime Minister himself got involved and persuaded Bert O’Shea, the Chairman of the Land Council, to agree to let the mine go ahead, ostensibly in return for a new school and community centre at Jabiru.”
This was news to Jake, especially about the P.M.’s involvement.
“Surely, it must have been above board. I heard there was an independent report by a consultant on the land rights and environmental issues,” responded Jack.
“Yeah, well I’ve heard a rumour that O’Shea has an interest in the consulting company that did the work, although it can’t be proven as it’s owned by trust companies. He and a couple of his mates on the Council are suddenly flashing a lot of money around.”
“Let me tell you Jake, there could be some big problems when the Prime Ministers come here to open the mine on Friday. This is aboriginal land and we’re not letting it go just like that. I’d stay away from the place if I were you.”
Barry explained some of the history of indigenous habitation at Kakadu and the introduction of mining into aboriginal land. The area has been populated for 50,000 years by the Binugy and other aboriginal tribes who have a deep spiritual connection to the land. There are over 5,000 recorded rock art sites in the Park. The traditional owners manage the park in conjunction with the Australian Government.
Uranium was discovered in the 1970’s, and despite considerable controversy and objections from traditional owners and conservationists, approval was given to mine within certain defined areas which were excluded from the park. The Ranger uranium mine, which was subsequently developed near Jabiru, became one of the most productive uranium mines in the world. However the life of the mine had come to an end and steps were taken to re-include the area in the national park. But then three years ago a major new discovery was made of a rich lode of uranium and other minerals, just ten kilometres from the original Ranger mine. The Government had done an about-face and in fact had reneged on its agreement to return the area to the Park confines so that commercial exploitation could take place.
Jake finished his cup of tea, thanked Barry for his time, walked to the car and headed back to Yellow Water.
TUESDAY EVENING - YELLOW WATER
Back at the hotel, Jake joined the rest of the Australian delegation for dinner. After the meal the delegates were split up into groups to discuss ways of progressing the specific issues. He observed Ambassador Connell dominating the discussions pushing his hard line views of not giving in to Japanese demands for further concessions. By 9 p.m. everyone was becoming tired and touchy and Deputy Secretary Antrim wound up the discussions for the day.
As they were walking back to their rooms, Jake drew Jenny Antrim aside and said, “Look Jenny we’re not getting anywhere here, we’re just rehashing the old issues. We have to come up with a break-through initiative if the Prime Ministers are to agree.”
“Let’s sit down for a minute Jake,” Jenny pointed to some chairs in the lounge. After settling into their chairs Jenny said, “I know it’s a painful process, have you got anything in mind?”
“As a matter of fact I do. Here’s what I suggest.” Jake outlined his thoughts as to a solution. Jenny listened for the next fifteen minutes as Jake explained his proposals.
“I think you may have something here Jake. I’m meeting with Foreign Minister Anna Sentoro in her suite in an hour. Could you prepare a short paper outlining your proposals and join me at the meeting.”
Jake went back to his room and worked furiously preparing a broadsheet outlining the issues and his recommendations for their resolution. He then rushed up to the Minister Sentoro’s suite and knocked on the door. Jenny answered the door and invited Jake in. She then introduced him to Anna Sentoro who invited him to help himself to a coffee.
Jake had met Sentoro previously. She had visited Tokyo twice and Jake had escorted her to a number of meetings with Japanese officials and business representatives. She was in her mid-forties, of Italian origin, petite, olive skinned, dark haired with a lively personality. She had grown up in rural New South Wales in the small town of Cooma at the foot of the Snowy Mountains. Her grandfather, as a newly arrived immigrant from Italy, worked on the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme and her father had also worked as an engineer at the power station. After graduating in law at the Australian National University, Sentoro had worked in one of the major law firms in Sydney specialising in commercial law before returning to Cooma to open up her own law practice. Her popularity in the community led her to be nominated as a candidate for the local electorate when the existing federal member retired. She was elected at her first attempt. Because of her ability to grasp policy issues quickly and her appeal to wide sections of the community, she was recognised as a rising star in the party and performed well in portfolios of Minister for Social Services and Minister for Communications. A few months ago she had been appointed Deputy Leader and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in place of Malcolm Crichton who had to step down from both positions due to a financial scandal.
Anna invited Jake run through his proposal. She listened attentively and questioned him intensively about various aspects. She leaned back in her chair.
“You have some interesting ideas here Jake. Nothing seems to be working at the moment and we must break the current stalemate if we are to sign an agreement. Give me time to think it through and perhaps I’ll run it past the P.M.”
Jake strode back to his room and went straight to bed, tired from a long and frustrating day.