Whose Mine is it Anyway? National Interest, Indigenous Stakeholders and Colonial Discourses: The Case of the Jabiluka Uranium Mine

In this paper I examine the case of the highly controversial Jabiluka uranium mine which was recently given the green signal by the John Howard government. The mine, to be constructed in the heart of the Kakadu National Park (home to the Mirrar people and a World Heritage site) has been the topic of public debate and controversy involving Aboriginal communities, political parties, the mining industry, and environmentalists. By examining the colonial and anti-colonial discourses that inform the mining project with a particular focus on the colonialist, capitalist discourse inherent in the construction of Australian nationhood and the management of Aboriginal identity, I argue that contemporary postcolonial theory can be problematic in accounting for anticolonialist struggles or the struggles of the colonized to negotiate with and survive colonial conditions. I also examine the differential power dynamics among the different stakeholders in this process. I conclude by discussing implications of this case for stakeholder theory and for critical management studies.