It’s Australia’s largely unknown Chernobyl. The Ngambigunha | Wittenoom area on Banjima’s Native Title lands in Western Australia’s Pilbara region is the largest contaminated site in the Southern Hemisphere, eight times the size of Sydney Harbour.  

   

The deadly contamination from Wittenoom’s blue asbestos mines is spreading beyond the exclusion zone and will do so ‘for hundreds of years’ if left unchecked according to a WA Government-commissioned report.  It has caused sickness, cultural loss, and environmental devastation that will continue to silently fester and spread without action. 

  

Banjima people have been urging the Western Australian government to remediate their lands and respect their human rights. During the filming of YURLU | COUNTRY, the powerful documentary immortalising Banjima Elder Maitland Parker’s final year, Director and Producer Yaara Bou Melhem asked him what gives him the strength to keep fighting. Maitland said knowing that his ‘Old People’ his ancestors were walking beside him, urging him to continue to advocate for the health of people and Country.  

 

It’s now our time to walk with Banjima.  

 

By signing your name, you show your support for Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (BNTAC)’s efforts to secure the remediation of the tailings dumps at Wittenoom.