Senator BROWN(3.20 p.m.) —Senator Bishop made the point that the Aboriginal owners do not want development in their land. He went on to say that they were not concerned about uranium mining per se. I got the exact opposite message in speaking to traditional owners when I was at Kakadu in April this year. Senator Bishop then went on to say that, seeing development is going to occur, we then have to look at the best way in which that can be levied in the interests of the Aboriginal people. There is a loss of logic there. The best interest of the Aboriginal people is for the uranium mine not to go ahead. That is what they want. That is what they made clear to the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (Senator Herron) in this parliament just the night before last.

In the minister's answer today, he said two things. Firstly, he said, `If that was the wish of the Aboriginal people, their wish should be adhered to.' Secondly, he said, `However, we are going on with a whole range of other processes and investigations with a view to having a uranium mine.' There is an inherent inconsistency there and all the alarm bells are ringing. If the minister is going to be honest and straight on this matter, he would be saying that he has now heard the Mirrar people, that he knows clearly from their leaders that this mine is against their wishes and, because he stands for them as the arbiters of this matter, that is the end of it. What is the point of proceeding further down the line?

The minister is trying to dupe not only the Senate but, far more importantly, the people who are involved. We can draw only that conclusion because on the one hand he is saying that he will respect their wishes but on the other hand he is hell-bent on getting around their wishes. What an invidious position to put these people in. At least, it shows a complete inability to understand the anxiety they have. They feel they got rolled in the establishment of the Ranger uranium mine. They know they were deceived by the promises of the goods and the largesse and the improvements in their life that were going to come out of that. They wish that mine had not gone ahead.

Now we look at Jabiluka. The people involved there know that it is against their interests. They have had the trial run. They have seen the broken promises. They have seen the broken land. They have seen the broken hearts. They have seen the broken lives. Yet we have a minister saying that he will abide by their wishes: `I know you don't want to go ahead, but I am proceeding anyway.' That is what he is doing. He is proceeding with a series of moves aimed at forcing this mine on that land against the wishes of those owners. It is duplicitous, it is dishonest and it is disgusting.

The minister ought to be ashamed of himself for the way in which he is misleading not only those people. The intent of this government is to foist that mine on them, regardless of their wishes. It is going to be a case of this nation standing with that small group of all mightily important people, their land and their wishes as the government proceeds down that line.

This issue will escalate because this minister is hell-bent on escalating it. He is not going to stick with his word. If he were, he would accept the situation now. He would save the further expenditure. More particularly, he would save further heartache for these people. It is a deplorable process that he and his government are engaged in. At least the people of Jabiluka have come here and told him what they think. It will be to his eternal discredit if he continues down this road of perfidy as far as their interests are concerned.

Question resolved in the affirmative.