Nature rates second to uranium mine

Aboriginal and green groups say the Australian government faces international embarrassment after a United Nations World Heritage committee called for the scrapping of a controversial uranium mine.

A damning report said the proposed mine would pose a severe danger to the cultural and natural values of the nearby world-famous Kakadu National Park. But the federal government has dismissed the report as biased and unbalanced.

The Jabiluka uranium mine and mill has been subject to months of blockades and legal challenges by environmentalists and local Aborigines, who objected to the underground workings, and the UN committee's report was their last hope.

The week-long investigation found the world heritage values of Kakadu in the Northern Territory were threatened by the mine, and that the environmental regulations laid down by the government were not rigorous enough.

But Robert Hill, the federal environment minister, said: "We reject this finding. We are greatly disappointed by the superficial assessment."

He said the report had no legal capacity to stop the project, and said Australia would oppose moves to place Kakadu on the world heritage "in danger" list at a meeting this week in Kyoto, Japan.

He added: "It's almost as if the conclusion was reached first and then there was an attempt to cobble together an argument to support the conclusion."

The report said the mining lease threatens aboriginal culture and sacred sites and repeats the concerns of some top Australian scientists about the "unacceptably high degree" of uncertainty surrounding the mine's design and radioactive waste dam. It also seriously questions the compatibility of uranium mining upstream from the park which attracts tourists from around the world to its extensive wetlands.

Phillip Shirvington, of the mining company Energy Resources of Australia, which is developing the lease, said his organisation had been given a clean bill of health by independent Australian scientists, and it appeared that the UN committee had a pre-set agenda.

"We know what we're doing out there, we know what the independent reports within the Australian system have indicated," he said.

But the minority Australian Democrats called on the government to invoke the World Heritage Act and issue an urgent proclamation to prevent the mine from going ahead.

Senator Lyn Allison said the report's findings were enormously important to Australia's international standing. She said: "It demonstrates that we're not looking after our world heritage areas, and it's an indictment of a government that has been misleading Australians by saying that the uranium mine won't do any environmental damage."

The traditional owners of the Jabiluka mine site said they were relieved that the UN team had listened to their concerns. And they claimed that the news would give the 27-strong clan the power to keep up the fight. Christine Christopherson, spokeswoman for the Mirrar people, said: "We're thrilled, but it's still such a shame that Australian people or the government can't come to the same conclusion."

Green senator Bob Brown said the report was a breakthrough for Aborigines and those opposed to uranium mining.

He warned that Australia would face international condemnation if the government now permitted the mine to proceed.