Category: Новини

Australia is investigating claims by First Nations groups that mining and manufacturing industries are threatening significant cultural sites.   

Indigenous settlement of Australia dates back an estimated 65,000 years.

This vast history is documented in ancient songs, stories, dance and art, but development threatens part of the culture.

The federal government has appointed an independent investigator to gauge the threat of industrial expansion to 40,000-year-old Indigenous rock art in Western Australia.

It is a controversy that has been brewing for months. 

In August, the government rejected Aboriginal groups’ application for a 60-day moratorium to stop Perdaman, the multinational operator of a fertilizer plant, from relocating sacred rock art.  However, authorities in Canberra have now agreed to appoint an expert to assess whether the art is at risk, and whether it must be protected by a ministerial declaration. 

The site at the remote Burrup Peninsula, 1,500 kilometers north of Perth, has been recommended for a United Nation’s World Heritage listing. It is considered to be one of the world’s most significant collections of ancient rock carvings. 

The region has more than a million petroglyphs, or art carved, scratched or scoured from rock, spread over 37,000 hectares. First Nations elders have said the depictions are all connected, and that moving some of the carvings would damage their spiritual connection to the sites that tell stories of creation. 

Indigenous leader Raelene Cooper told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that sacred sites need to be shielded from industrial development.

“It is appalling that at this day and age we are still, as First Nations people, being told to sit in the back sit and that ain’t [is not] me,” Cooper said. “If there is anything that I could, I guess, advise for all of my country mob all over this continent we have a right and we have a story and we have a history here and our government needs to start acknowledging it.” 

The independent investigation could take months.  However, Perdaman already has official permission to start work on its Burrup Peninsula project. The fertilizer manufacturer has consulted with local Indigenous communities about its plans to relocate some rock carvings. It has not yet commented publicly on its operations. 

The Western Australian government supports the development, saying it has the appropriate environmental and heritage approvals.

The state government has also set up an extensive program to monitor the impact of emissions from local gas production on ancient petroglyphs in the area.  

A parliamentary inquiry into the destruction of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters by resources giant Rio Tinto in 2020 recommended new laws to protect thousands of sacred sites across Australia.

However, some legal experts believe not enough has been done and that economic interests continue to be placed ahead of First Nations culture.  

Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney said in July the new Labor government would implement new cultural heritage legislation, but a timeframe has yet to be set.
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President Joe Biden met Friday with family members of WNBA star Brittney Griner and another American detained in Russia, Paul Whelan, the first face-to-face encounter that the president has had with the relatives.

In a statement after the meetings, which were held separately, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden stressed to the families his “continued commitment to working through all available avenues to bring Brittney and Paul home safely.”

“He asked after the well-being of Elizabeth and Cherelle and their respective families during this painful time,” Jean-Pierre said. “The president appreciated the opportunity to learn more about Brittney and Paul from those who love them most, and acknowledged that every minute they are being held is a minute too long.”

Still, administration officials have said the meetings were not an indication that negotiations with Russia for their release have reached a breakthrough.

Earlier Friday, John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said that Russia has not responded to what administration officials have called a substantial and serious offer to secure Griner and Whelan’s release.

“The president is not going to let up,” Kirby told reporters. “He’s confident that this is going to remain in the forefront of his mind and his team’s mind, and they’re going to continue to work as hard as they can.”

Griner has been held in Russia since February on drug-related charges. She was sentenced last month to nine years in prison after pleading guilty and has appealed the punishment. Whelan is serving a 16-year sentence on espionage-related charges that he and his family say are false. The U.S. government regards both as wrongfully detained, placing their cases with the office of its top hostage negotiator.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the unusual step of announcing two months ago that the administration had made a substantial proposal to Russia. Though he did not elaborate on the proposal, a person familiar with the matter has said the U.S. has offered to release convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

The administration carried out a prisoner swap last April, with Moscow releasing Marine veteran Trevor Reed in exchange for the U.S. releasing a Russian pilot, Konstantin Yaroshenko, convicted in a drug trafficking conspiracy.

Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, participated in both meetings. Biden sat down with Elizabeth Whelan, the sister of Paul Whelan. Then the president met with Cherelle Griner, the wife of Brittney Griner, as well as the player’s agent, Lindsay Colas, according to the White House.
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