Yvonne Margarula

Yvonne Margarula won the 1998 Friends of the Earth International Environment Award and the 1998 Nuclear-Free Future Award. She also won the 1999 U.S. Goldman Environmental Prize, with Jacqui Katona, in recognition of efforts to protect their country and culture against uranium mining.^[1][2]

Protests

The Mirrar aboriginal people, led by Margarula and Katona, mounted a large campaign in opposition to the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine in the Northern Territory of Australia. They used legal action and education to gain national and international support. In March 1998 the Mirrar, together with environmental organizations, used massive on-site civil disobedience to create one of the largest blockades in Australia's history. Over several months, approximately 5,000 people from across Australia and around the world travelled to the remote camp to protest with the Mirrar people. In July the land was cleared by Energy Resources of Australia and construction of the entrance to the Jabiluka mine began; however, protesters intervened and about 550 were arrested, including Margarula and Katona.^[3][4][5]

In 2011, Margarula wrote a public letter to Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, expressing sorrow that uranium from Mirrar land was used in the Fukushima plant.^[6]

See also

• List of Australian inquiries into uranium mining
• List of Nuclear-Free Future Award recipients
• Uranium in the environment
• Uranium mining in Kakadu National Park
• Women and the environment through history

References

1. ↑ Echoes from the Poisoned Well
2. ↑ Yvonne Margarula, Australia Archived August 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
3. ↑ Goldman Environmental Prize Archived February 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
4. ↑ Who's Who of Women and the Environment
5. ↑ Broken Promises: Land Rights, Mining and the Mirrar People
6. ↑ "Yvone Margarula's letter to the UN expressing solidarity with the people of Fukushima". Indy Media. 16 April 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2013. 

External links

• Aborigines count cost of mine

Anti-nuclear movement in Australia
Organisations and groups	The Australia Institute Australian Conservation Foundation Australian Greens Australian Labor Party Campaign Against Nuclear Energy Conservation Council of South Australia Friends of the Earth Australia Greenpeace Australia Pacific Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta Medical Association for Prevention of War Mineral Policy Institute Nuclear Disarmament Party Peace Organisation of Australia The Wilderness Society
People	Dorothy Auchterlonie Green David Bradbury (film maker) Bob Brown Eileen Kampakuta Brown Kevin Buzzacott Helen Caldicott Moss Cass Ian Cohen Michael Denborough Mark Diesendorf Jim Falk Peter Garrett Jim Green (activist) Margaret Holmes Jacqui Katona Sandra Kanck Ian Lowe Scott Ludlam Yvonne Margarula Dee Margetts Jillian Marsh Jean Melzer Kerry Nettle Tilman Ruff Nancy Shelley Jo Vallentine Patrick White Stuart White Eileen Wani Wingfield
Books	Britain, Australia and the Bomb Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy Maralinga: Australia's Nuclear Waste Cover-up Reaction Time: Climate Change and the Nuclear Option
See also	Australian Uranium Association Clean Energy Future Group List of inquiries into uranium mining in Australia Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents Nuclear power in Australia Nuclear weapons tests in Australia Olympic Dam, South Australia Ranger Uranium Environmental Inquiry Renewable energy commercialization Renewable energy in Australia Say Yes demonstrations Uranium mining in Australia Uranium mining in Kakadu National Park