Draft:Kakadu Action Group

The Kakadu Action Group (KAG) was an environmental group opposed to proposals to resume mining at Coronation Hill in the Kakadu National Park region of the Northern Territory of Australia.

Background
In the late 1980s a proposal for a uranium mine preceded a change of the prime minister of Australia after a Cabinet Disagreement over refusing its approval.

In 1988 BHP proposed mining at Coronation Hill where there was a disused uranium mine from the 1950s.

Groups from environmental, social and indigenous perspectives opposed the proposal. Miners and some economists supported it. The community concern was large and the Australian Government created the Resource Assessment Council to prepare a comprehensive report on the pros and cons of the proposal and opposition to it.

History
Lindsay Mollison led the KAG from the Australian Conservation Foundation's offices in Glenferrie, Melbourne where meetings were held.

As well the KAG held public meetings to encourage public support for opposition to the proposal.

KAG also contributed and responded to letters to the "Letters to the Editor" section of The Age newspaper over the several years the proposal was under Government consideration.

Records of the meetings of the KAG are held by the Australian Government and can only be accessed with approval. They are due for release in 2026.

Outcome
The mining proposal was vetoed at a Cabinet meeting by the then Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, in May 1991. That meeting was seen as the beginning of Hawke's fall from power which occurred a few months later.