Kevin Buzzacott

Kevin Buzzacott

Kevin Buzzacott (* 1947 ) is an Elder of the Arabunna Aborigines in northern South Australia , also known as Uncle Kev . He is committed to the recognition of the culture, human rights and land rights of the Aborigines. Buzzacott initiated and led numerous political campaigns against the Olympic Dam uranium mine on the Arabunna land and against the exploitation of drinking water in the Great Artesian Basin .

He is recognized as Uncle Kev and recognized by both Aborigines and non-Laborigines for his efforts to protect his land, culture and the Australian spirit.

Campaigns

In April 1999, the attempted Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Environment Minister Robert Hill to Lake Eyre from the list of UNESCO - World Heritage to emphasize to the mining company BHP Billiton to allow mining activities. The applicant Kevin Buzzacott described Minister Downer's initiative as genocide against the Australian Aborigines in the court case he lost . Thereupon Buzzacott initiated a march from Lake Eyre to the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and another from the uranium mine Olympic Dam to Hiroshima in Japan.

In 2002, Buzzacott reclaimed the emu and kangaroo tribal totems , which are featured in the Australian coat of arms outside Parliament House in Canberra . Three years later he was forcibly detained for stealing this coat of arms for the tent embassy , a memorial of the Aboriginal protest. This culminated in a legal battle in which the Australian government filed one of the most detailed pleadings on genocide.

In 2003 the Special Broadcasting Service and the Australian Film Commission of the Aboriginal Unit produced a documentary series entitled We of Little Voice , which Kevin Buzzacott showed on a trip through northern South Australia, where he told the Aboriginal Elders about their experiences with the Nuclear industry in uranium mining and about the nuclear weapons tests .

He supported the Aboriginal tent embassy in Canberra , where he got into a legal battle in 1988. He was also involved in Camp Sovereignty during the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne , referred to by many Aboriginal people as the the Stolen Wealth Games .

In Melbourne on April 21, 2007, a group of Aboriginal and non-Laboratory raised money for Buzzacott to continue educating the Australian population about the consequences of uranium mining.

Prices

In 2001 Kevin Buzzacott received the prestigious Nuclear-Free Future Award in Ireland , which enabled him to travel Europe and give lectures on the struggle of the Aborigines for their land rights.

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) honored Buzzacott with the Peter Rawlinson Award in 2007 for his work against uranium mining and for his commitment to a nuclear-free Australia. On the occasion of the award ceremony, the Executive Director of the ACF describes Buzzacott:

A passionate and effective advocate for sustainable water management and for responsibility, respect and recognition of the rights, aspirations and traditional knowledge of Australia's Indigenous peoples. Kevin is a cultural practitioner, an activist, an advocate and an educator. He has traveled tirelessly, talking to groups large and small about the impacts of uranium mining and the threats posed by the nuclear industry. Kevin has had a profound impact on the lives of many people - especially young people - with his many tours and 'on-country' events. For many young activists 'Uncle Kev' is truly an unsung hero and, against the current pro-nuclear tide, his is a very important struggle and story.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nulyarimma v Thompson (1999) FCA 1192 Federal Court of Australia judgment, Austlii, Accessed on 8 June 2007
2. ↑ Walking the Land for our Ancient Rights: Interview with Kevin Buzzacott ( Memento of the original of September 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Indigenous Law Bulletin [2000] ILB 6, Austlii. Retrieved June 8, 2007
3. ↑ Unofficial flame to highlight Aboriginal issues  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   ABC Online September 2, 2000. Retrieved May 8, 2007
4. ^ Police remove man from Aboriginal tent embassy Sydney Morning Herald, April 6, 2005. Retrieved June 8, 2007
5. ^ Australia By Numbers Series 3. SBS. Retrieved June 8, 2007
6. ↑ Kevin Buzzacott, 2001 Nuclear-Free Future Resistance Award Recipient Nuclear Free News. Retrieved June 8, 2007
7. ↑ Aboriginal awarded environmental gong from June 5, 2007 . Retrieved May 8, 2007
8. ↑ Indigenous nuclear campaigner wins national environment award ( Memento of the original of July 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Australian Conservation Foundation, June 5, 2007. Retrieved June 8, 2007

Web links

• Website of the Keepers of Lake Eyre
• Short video of Uncle Kev in action by Pip Starr
• First Fleet Back made by Tall Storeez