A group of First Nations Brazilians taking on the mining company BHP say a voice to parliament will give Indigenous Australians a critical avenue they were not afforded – the chance to consult.
The delegation is visiting Australia to meet with politicians this week amid their multibillion-dollar class action suit against the Australian mining firm over its role in the devastation caused by the Mariana dam disaster in 2015.
Cacique Bayara from the Pataxos people, through a translator, said he stood in solidarity with Indigenous Australians in their fight to be heard.
“What’s happening in Brazil happens here in Australia as well. It’s the same dynamic,” he said in Canberra.
In November 2015, the Fundão tailings dam in south-eastern Brazil collapsed, releasing 40 million cubic metres of toxic mining waste, killing 19 people, destroying 700 homes and affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who live along the River Doce.
Eight years later, Bayara is among the 700,000 people – many of them belonging to Indigenous communities – who are pursuing a class action suit against BHP in the UK for its role in the dam failure.
The lawsuit against BHP could amount to £36bn ($70bn), according to the law firm leading the charge, Pogust Goodhead.
BHP has said it will defend against the compensation claims, saying they are “unnecessary because they duplicate matters already covered by the existing and ongoing work of the Renova Foundation and legal proceedings in Brazil”.
The contingent were joined by the Greens senator Dorinda Cox on Wednesday, who believes the voice to parliament could play an important role in allowing First Nations people to stand up to mining companies who commit environmental crimes if the referendum succeeds.
Cox, a Yamatji-Noongar woman, said she could relate to the group witnessing the destruction of country, adding she believed the proposed advisory body would make it tougher for major corporations to ignore First Nations voices.
“This is exactly what a voice to parliament can address,” Cox said.
“It can address the fact that people who are voiceless in our communities – who don’t have a platform, who aren’t in a powerful position and who don’t have money – can actually challenge the system.
“When we have voices at the table to talk about the need for compensation and reparations, when there are incidences like this – the need for that impact to be heard and listened to effectively is also what a voice to parliament is about.”
Cox, the First Nations spokesperson for the Greens, remained confident Australians would wake up on 15 October to a successful referendum, saying “the vibe on the ground is very good”.
Marcelo Krenak of the Krenak people and Thatiele Monic Estevão, a Quilombola, both said it was a joint struggle of Indigenous people around the world.
“As we spoke with the senator before, our people, our communities, many times were oppressed by those in government, by those who were there to supposedly defend us,” Krenak said through a translator.
“They were oppressing us and trying to exterminate us. A word that defines the Indigenous and traditional people today is resilience – to resist above all.”
Cox urged Australians to read up on what the referendum will actually do for First Nations Australians.
“We gain 65,000 years of history, we don’t lose anything,” she said.
