Yvonne Margarula thought her fight to protect Jabiluka from uranium mining was over in late July when Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) had its lease renewal knocked back.
But following ERA's challenge to the decision in the Federal Court, Ms Margarula, a senior Mirarr Traditional Owner, has again stepped up to defend Country, joining the case.
Mirarr say Jabiluka is unlike any other proposed mining location, as it is rich in ancient rock art and sacred sites, and includes the earliest known human occupation archaeological site.
“I was very happy when I heard that the government would let the mining lease finish at Jabiluka," Ms Margarula said.
She's worried what will happen if the lease is renewed, because Ms Margarula wants to help the next generation of Mirarr look after Country.
"All the sites need to be checked and the bim (rock art) has to be looked after properly," she said.
"But our next generation needs us to teach them.
"If we wait any longer, who will teach them?
"We are the ones that lived on that Country, we walked by foot with our mum and dad and our grandmothers right across Jabiluka."
Jabiluka Land Trust and Northern Land Council sued by mining company
ERA, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, also operates the adjacent defunct Ranger uranium mine next to Kakadu National Park, near Jabiru, 300km east of Darwin.
ERA had been granted access to the Jabiluka area, an as-yet undeveloped uranium deposit south of Ranger that is estimated to hold 137,100 tonnes of uranium oxide.
About two weeks before the 42-year lease expired in August, the then Northern Territory Labor mining minister Mark Monaghan refused to extend it after receiving advice from federal Labor Resources Minister Madeleine King.
The lease renewal was rejected partially due to federal government plans to extend Kakadu National Park over the area.
ERA has challenged this decision in the Federal Court, claiming the federal government was being influenced by Traditional Owners and anti-uranium activists, naming Midnight Oil frontman and former Labor MP Peter Garrett in court documents.
The mining company has sued Ms King, Mr Monaghan, the federal and NT governments as well as the Jabiluka Aboriginal Land Trust and the Northern Land Council.
After a brief hearing on Monday afternoon, Justice Geoffrey Kennett allowed Ms Margarula, representing the Mirarr Traditional Owners of Jabiluka, to join the lawsuit in opposition to ERA's claims.
Ms Margarula's barrister Ruth Higgins SC said her client had the right to join in the case as her interests and that of the Mirarr would be affected if the lease was extended.
'They should just go away'
The lease detracted from the Mirarr people's rights to access and use the land as they saw fit, the court heard.
ERA claims the advice given by Ms King was invalid because it denied the firm procedural fairness and the opportunity to be heard.
Ms Margarula said the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation has been writing letters to government for years, asking for Jabiluka to be included as a national park.
"That was what my dad was promised, that it would all be Kakadu National Park one day," she said.
"Well, I'm ready now.
"Nobody is mining there, nothing.
"They should just go away, now, before it's too late.”
A four-day hearing has been scheduled to begin on October 28.
The Jabiluka mineral lease has an estimated value of around $90 million.
An offer to buy the lease for $550 million by Boss Energy was withdrawn after federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said in July the government intended to incorporate the site into Kakadu, ERA said in affidavits filed with the court.
In its 2023 annual report, ERA said there were no plans to develop the Jabiluka area into a uranium mine, saying it could not do so without the approval of the Mirarr traditional owners.
It has said previously its priority would be to rehabilitate the Ranger mine, which comes at an estimated cost of $2.2 billion.
