Fed: Macfarlane giving green light to Aust polluters, says Oxfam

AAP General News (Australia)
02-13-2007
Fed: Macfarlane giving green light to Aust polluters, says Oxfam

CANBERRA, Feb 13 AAP - Aid group Oxfam says Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane has effectively
given a green light to Australian companies operating overseas to pollute rivers and oceans.

Oxfam, which campaigns against illegal dumping in impoverished countries, says Mr Macfarlane
is turning a blind eye to what companies do in developing nations.

Mr Macfarlane said at an APEC mining conference yesterday that Australia expected all
APEC countries to set their own guidelines for companies that operated within their borders.

"Australia respects the sovereign rights of every member country of APEC to set its
own rules," he said.

Nations taking part in the Perth meetings include some of the world's biggest mineral
producers, including Australia, Canada, Peru, Chile and the US.

Oxfam Australia said Mr Macfarlane's comments were disingenuous at best.

"The federal government is well aware that the environmental protection laws of countries
such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and The Philippines where Australian miners operate
are much less regulated than at home," Oxfam Australia executive director Andrew Hewitt
said in a statement.

"The Australian sense of fair-go appears not to extend to some of our poorest neighbours.

"Lives and livelihoods have been destroyed by the unsafe practices of Australian mining
companies who dump toxic waste into rivers and oceans just because the local law allows
it."

Mr Hewitt said Oxfam believed Australian companies involved in mining operations could
contribute to local development and poverty alleviation.

"But to do so they must take a firm stand against practices that cause environmental
degradation, rob people of livelihoods and drive poverty."

AAP dep/sb/maur/cdh

KEYWORD: APEC OXFAM

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.