An Aboriginal community is calling for a halt to exploratory drilling preparations on their traditional lands by a Gina Rinehart-linked company, claiming they weren’t properly consulted by the peak body representing them.
However, the chief executive of the Northern Land Council (NLC), has defended his organisation, and blames the “confusion” on a two-year delay between traditional owners giving permission and the permits being granted, as well as “intervention by third-party groups”.
Residents from the region around the Alawa and Mangarrayi lands in the Northern Territory on Tuesday confronted a meeting at Mataranka, about 100km south of Katherine.
The group, backed by the Northern Territory Frack Free Alliance, has demanded the NLC reveal which traditional owners gave permission for the original permits, accusing the council of seeking out people it knew would be supportive, regardless of whether they held appropriate seniority in the community.
Only one signatory is believed to be publicly known, senior Mangarrayi traditional owner Sheila Conway, and she has since reneged her support, claiming she did not understand what she was signing. Conway is unable to read or write.
In a letter handed to the NLC chief executive, Joe Morrison, on Tuesday, lawyers acting on behalf of Conway called for a halt to all meetings with Mangarrayi traditional owners about the exploration permit until the agreements had been provided.
In March 2015, the NT government granted the region’s first petroleum exploration permits on Aboriginal land. One, covering areas within the Alawa land trust and the Mangarrayi land trust, was granted to Jacaranda Minerals and Minerals Australia, a subsidiary of Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting.
The permit areas are near the Mataranka Hot Springs, as well as Elsey station and Roper River. Pastoralists and tourism operators have also expressed their concern at the proposed drilling.
The NLC said at the time, in a report in Land Rights News, that traditional owners had given consent for about 51% of the land originally applied for, and exclusion zones set out around creeks, rivers and residences.
But those now opposed claim there wasn’t adequate explanation of the scale of the works involved beyond the exploratory stage, or the risks involved. They also claim there were no interpreters available for the old people, nor family members allowed in discussion, leading to a lack of informed consent.
“A lot of the people up here don’t know what a gas mine is, they don’t know much about mining and were asked to sign papers on something they don’t know anything about,” Simone Baker, granddaughter of Conway and member of the Mangarrayi land trust, told Guardian Australia.
“None of our elders are [reading or writing well]. My nanna can barely spell her name let alone read a piece of legislation or a contract,” said Conway.
Through her granddaughter acting as translator, Sheila Conway told Guardian Australia she was concerned she wasn’t properly informed and was distressed about having signed an agreement which could lead to fracking on the land.
“I was thinking about the country and the water systems and the kids that are still growing up and if they would have a future on the country,” she said.
Conway has previously told the ABC she was not consulted at all.
Morrison declined to comment on the legal letter, but told Guardian Australia the consultations with traditional owners were “extensive”, and all consent and non-consent decisions regarding the exploration permit were “fully informed”. He said “competent bilingual traditional owners” assisted the NLC with delivering information.
“The Northern Land Council has no position either for or against fracking,” said Morrison.
“The information given at consultation meetings was extensive, but neutral. Traditional Owners were fully informed about the processes of fracking and about all known possible environmental consequences. That TOs took this information on board is evidenced by their decision to refuse exploration over approximately 50% of the land applied for, including all watercourses, communities, living areas and sacred sites.”
Morrison said the agreement signed between the mining company and the NLC (on behalf of the traditional owners) was confidential and would not be released, but the detail of it was explained to attendees of Tuesday’s meeting, and repeatedly during consultations between 2010 and 2013.
The Northern Territory Frack Free Alliance has criticised the NLC’s “one size fits all” consultation process, noting a different system of land management and decision making specific to the tribes within the affected area.
The organisation urged the NLC to walk back from its decision, as it did with the controversial proposed nuclear dump at Muckaty Station.
Naomi Wilfred, an Indigenous engagement officer from the nearby community of Jilkminggan, said she believed the old people wouldn’t have approved the license if they were fully informed.
“We don’t like having a gas mine come through on our land,” Wilfred said in a video filmed by the Frack Free Alliance.
“We didn’t know about this project going to happen. It didn’t come through the right channel, it didn’t come through and negotiate with everyone in the community.”
At an NLC meeting earlier this month, the NLC chair, Samuel Bush-Blenasi, told attendees his organisation provided information to landowners so they could make the right decision.
“If you don’t make the right decision, that’s your fault. Our role is to make sure you get the right information,” said Bush-Blenasi.
He told people to stop blaming the NLC for problems on their land and in their communities, and defended the council’s decision-making process.
Fracking in the Northern Territory is shaping up to be a divisive issue ahead of the August 27 election.
A coalition of Indigenous groups, pastoralists and tourism operators have protested against fracking for shale gas in the NT, but an independent review last year found fracking can occur safely in the region with stronger regulatory frameworks and safeguards in place.
The Labor opposition has promised a moratorium on fracking if elected, for which the CLP government has accused it of already damaging business confidence.
• This article was amended on 29 June 2016. An earlier version said the community group was supported by the Environment Centre NT. It is the Northern Territory Frack Free Alliance.
