Coronation Hill

Coronation Hill is a sandstone outcrop within Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia.

The area had been briefly mined for uranium at El Sherana in the 1950s and in 1988 proposals for new mining of gold were made.

When mining was proposed in 1988 the area existed as an excised zone of Kakadu National Park and was added to it after the proposal was defeated.^[1]

Political importance

The Australian Government established the Resource Assessment Commission to provide a report to inform best decision making about new mining in the area.^[2]

Environmental, indigenous rights and social campaigns fought against allowing mining.^[3] Opposed environmental campaigns came from many organisations including the Kakadu Action Group founded by Lindsay Mollison, part of the Australian Conservation Foundation.

After some years of community debate the proposal was vetoed, despite internal disagreement, by then Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, in a Cabinet Meeting^[4] in May 1991. His actions in Cabinet that day were regarded as some as important in his ultimately being replaced later that year.^[5]

The area was added to the park as part of its stage 3 inclusions.^[6]

The decisions made with respect to Coronation Hill helped inform further decisions about other proposals to mine in Kakadu including rejection of a uranium mine at Jabiluka in the mid 1990s.^[7]

References

1. "Kakadu National Park". UNESCO. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
2. Stewart, Mr Justice. "Report of the Resource Assessment Commission inquiry into the use of the resources of the Kakadu Conservation Zone, including Coronation Hill and El Sherana". Resources Assessment Commission. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
3. Allam, Lorena (4 April 2010). "No ordinary piece of bush: the high price of Coronation Hill". ABC. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
4. Chan, Gabrielle (31 December 2015). "Cabinet papers 1990-91: Hawke's fight to keep mining out of Kakadu helped unseat him". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
5. "Hawke stands by decision on Kakadu". Nine Entertainment Co. AAP. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
6. "World Heritage Places - Kakadu National Park". Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
7. Hamilton, Clive (19 July 1996). "Mining in Kakadu: Lessons from Coronation Hill" (PDF). Parliamentary Library 'Vital Issues' Seminar Series Parliament House. Discussion Paper Number 9 (9): 1–18. Retrieved 4 November 2023.

13°35′16″S 132°36′18″E