WHAT: Press conference with Traditional Owners
WHEN: 9.45am, Thursday, June 17
WHERE: Senate courtyard
WHO: Northern Territory Traditional Owners, GetUp, Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network
Yanyuwa man Nicholas Fitzpatrick, Gudanji Garawa man Asman Rory, Yanyuwa & Garrwa woman Joni Wilson and Alawa woman May August will be joined by GetUp First Nations Justice campaign director Larissa Baldwin and Seed national director Amelia Telford. All are available for interview.
They're in Canberra this week urging Parliamentarians to vote for a disallowance motion, which will be tabled in the Senate today, against the Morrison Government's $50 million handout to help the gas industry pillage the Beetaloo Basin.
GetUp First Nations Justice Campaign Director Larissa Baldwin said:
"Traditional Owners have travelled all the way from the Northern Territory to Canberra this week, so they can tell politicians face-to-face that First Nations communities will never support fracking in the Top End.
"The gas industry's plan to wreck the Beetaloo Basin is a perfect example of why Australia needs a federal Aboriginal Heritage Protection Act. If Parliamentarians are serious about preventing more disasters like Juukan Gorge, they will vote to protect the Basin against the dirty gas corporations that will destroy and damage sacred and culturally significant sites across the country.
"Parliamentarians face an enormously important choice. Either they can stand with First Nations people and heritage, or they can turn their backs and give in to the gas lobby."
Media contact: Alex McKinnon 0411 829 334
Spokespeople:
Larissa Baldwin, First Nations Justice Campaign Director at GetUp
Amelia Telford, National Director at Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network
Nicholas Fitzpatrick, Yanyuwa man
Asman Rory, Gudanji Garawa man
Joni Wilson, Yanyuwa & Garrwa woman
May August, Alawa woman