MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRPERSON
It is now just over one year since Nurrdalinji was registered as a Corporation. We are being recognised as an organisation which has strong cultural rights and interests in our collective Country.
At our Annual General Meeting this August, members elected a new Board which includes some original and some new Directors.
The Board of Directors has been working so the Corporation can be a powerful voice for Country and people in our native title areas.
Following our AGM, we came together in Katherine in October. We developed our strategic plan so we can stand strong, protect our Country and demand proper
consultation with our members.
If you have any concerns about what's happening on your Country reach out to us for support.
Stay safe over Christmas and the New Year.
Yours in Unity
Johnny Wilson
Nurrdalinji Annual General Meeting August 2021
We had our first Annual General Meeting of members in Daly Waters over the weekend of 24th & 25th August. Thank you to all our members who
came. Day 1 we did formal business and updated members on what Nurrdalinji has done over the past year. The members also elected a new
Board of Directors with some of the first Directors being re-elected!
Day 2 we asked members to tell us what their concerns were so we can fight for our rights to have a say about what happens on Country.
The members also elected a Cultural Advisors Group to be consulted when the Board needs guidance and cultural advice so the right people speak for
country.
First Nations Clean Energy Network
WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?
Government Inquiries
Nurrdalinji participated in Parliamentary Inquiries to make sure we have a voice in government decisions that affect our Country and our people.
The Inquiry into the Oil and Gas Exploration in the Beetaloo Basin was about how the Federal government is using public money to fund fracking in the
Beetaloo Basin. Nurrdalinji spoke about how hard is it to have our concerns about fracking heard and how it's damaging our Country and our waters.
The Inquiry into the destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia was about whether the current laws protecting sacred sites are strong enough to make sure our sites are not destroyed or damaged.
WHAT ARE COMPANIES DOING ON OUR COUNTRY?
Imperial Oil & Gas has started to drill the Carpentaria 2H well. This new well is one of seven new wells which Imperial has been approved (by the NT Govt without Traditional Owner consent), to drill.
Santos is currently ‘fracture stimulating’ TWO wells on Tanumbirini station (Tanumbirini 2H and Tanumbirini 3H).
Invite more people to join the hard work Traditional Owners and Nurrdalinji are doing fighting for our country and our waters.
Talk to our Directors and tell them when there are meetings about fracking and other related activities so information can be shared.
Call up the NLC and ask them what is happening on your country.
Talk to Pastoralists - tell them your concerns and that you want to keep in contact about what's occurring at the fracking sites including issues around water use and storage, and site clearances.
What can you do to help protect country?
Nurrdalinji is still working with the Strategic Regional Environmental and Baseline Assessment (SREBA).
This work is happening on our Country across the Beetaloo region and will continue next year. Contact us to get involved or if you have any questions. We
need to make sure they know what our Country means to us and what it looks like now, so they can record any changes to our Country and the impacts of
(exploration) fracking.
SREBA NLC
Nurrdalinji Directors and members of our Cultural Leadership group were invited to meet with the NLC Delegates from the Borroloola Barkly region in September in Tennant Creek. This meeting was so Nurrdalinji could tell them what our concerns are and that they are not consulting the proper people.
As our Chair, Johnny Wilson says:
"It's time the Land Council listens to us and does their work so we can live peacefully on our country, doing what we've always done - fishing, hunting, and swimming in our waterholes."
In November, some Nurrdalinji members attended a forum and launch of the Network.
The Network is to make sure Traditional Owners share in the benefits of the clean energy boom in Australia. Clean energy, such as solar and wind power, can provide cheaper and more reliable energy and can cause less damage than fracking our Country. If you want to be involved or need more information visit www.firstnationscleanenergy.org.au or contact us!
Wastewater storage pond at Amungee Mungee well site
What happens in the wet season if these ponds overflow? We will see chemicals run through our waters and harm our country.
In the News | 21 October 2021
The NT Government announced it had approved Empire Energy for up to 7 fracking wells in the Beetaloo Basin.
Traditional owner Johnny Wilson, our Chair who lives in Lightning Ridge, within 20 km of the new fracking wells said:
“With this approval by the Minister the future looks dim.
I am concerned how fracking will impact my country, my people and my family.
“We are crying and grieving and pleading for help. The Northern Land Council must do the right thing and protect our country from Empire’s fracking plans.
“Water is life and fracking can poison it. I worry about how we will protect local artifacts and sacred sites which are passed down for us to look after and hold great stories.
“We must keep our law, culture and story alive.
"How can we do that when these companies are destroying our heritage?"
DIRECTOR PLANNING
The Board got together in October after the AGM to make a plan for how Nurrdalinji will keep fighting to protect Country and care for people.