CHOGM initiative to limit Australian uranium miners from exploiting African peoples

We have long needed greater assurances that Australian mining companies are adequately meeting their responsibilities in the developing countries in which many of them operate….

a focus on revenue transparency is long overdue…..Relying on companies to do the right thing is not enough. These initiatives will send a positive international signal,

Timely move to make miners more responsible for damage they cause, The Age Andrew Hewett October 28, 2011 Poor countries can expect greater control of mining companies. With two-thirds of the world’s poorest people living in resource-rich countries, too often the extraction of those resources contributes to poverty, corruption and conflict. Australian mining companies have become embroiled in damaging behaviour far from our shores and attention.

This week at CHOGM, the federal government announced initiatives aimed at ensuring the mining sector is better able to contribute to community and social development, and the responsible management of taxes and royalties paid by mining companies to governments, in Australia and overseas.

These initiatives should provide some comfort to communities in poor countries, such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Mongolia and many African nations – where Australian companies operate – as they struggle to get a fair share of their resource wealth, get access to essential services and protect their land and livelihoods….

A focus on the social impact of mining is vital. One of the worst examples of how things go wrong is the case of former Australian company Anvil Mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is alleged that the company, by providing logistical help, played a role in human rights abuses, including the massacre by the Congolese military of more than 70 people in 2004.

We have long needed greater assurances that Australian mining companies are adequately meeting their responsibilities in the developing countries in which many of them operate….

a focus on revenue transparency is long overdue. The government yesterday announced the establishment of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative pilot – a global standard for managing revenue from natural resources that requires companies to publish what they pay in taxes, royalties and other payments to governments, and for governments to publish what they receive.

Implementing the EITI here will support global commitments to fight bribery and corruption, and will send a positive signal to other resource-rich, but often regulatory poor, countries. Here, it will allow Australians to access information on the value of our natural resources. The more those affected by mining, such as indigenous communities, know about payments made to governments, the greater the likelihood they can negotiate equitable benefit-sharing agreements….

Relying on companies to do the right thing is not enough. These initiatives will send a positive international signal,

October 30, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics

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