As Traditional Owners, Mirarr bear cultural responsibility for the impact of anything from their country. Toby was concerned about this with relation to the export of uranium from Mirarr country. On March 11, 2011, the Fukushima nuclear power station reactors melted down after a dramatic earthquake and tidal wave. The uranium in the reactors came from Ranger mine on Mirarr country and Olympic Dam on Kokatha country in South Australia. The disaster and associated radiation has displaced 150,000 people, forced hundreds of farmers to give up their livelihoods and rendered huge swathes of land uninhabitable.
In the response to this news, Yvonne Margarula was very sad. Her father’s prediction had become reality. From the perspective of Mirarr, unleashing the djang at DjidbiDjibi resulted in a huge disaster. Yvonne wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to express her sadness at the accident and the impact it had on so many people. She also recorded this message which has since been shared with many survivors of the accident.
Video: Yvonne Margarula talks about the Fukushima nuclear disaster, 2011.
Content Type: Film + Video
Collection: GAC
