Dear friends,

Over the past two weeks Larrakia people have met with senators at Lee Point, spoken at land protection protests with hundreds of community members and stood alongside Beetaloo Basin Traditional Owners to stop the mining and fracking of Aboriginal land. Larrakia land, our beautiful iconic oceans and our sacred ceremonial sites are at risk of irreversible damage at the hands of the NT government, fracking corporations and Defence Housing Australia (DHA). Larrakia Elders and families are exhausted from trying to convey to the NT government how important these lands are, not just for us, but for the health and lifestyles of all people living on our lands. The passion and love our allies and the Darwin community have shown for Lee Point and Middle Arm has been powerful and brings a collective hope. Thank you so much for your support.

Since we launched our petition to return and protect Lee Point, the NT government has responded to the pressure from you, Larrakia families, environmental groups and the Darwin community by announcing a proposal to turn some of the land surrounding the area that DHA is set to bulldoze into a national park. This proposal for a national park is currently open for public feedback. As such, we're collecting submissions in support of the land being returned to Larrakia people which we will turn into a report to deliver to the government.

Will you contribute to our submission here? We’ve set up a five minute form to make it really easy! The deadline is this Sunday 21 April at 9am.

We will pair your submissions with evidence of the environmental, cultural and economic benefits of national parks being returned to Indigenous peoples and deliver that as a report to the NT government process.

Thank you so much to everyone who has signed the petition, shared our stories and supported our family and lands. We couldn’t do this without you.

With hope and gratitude,

Laniyuk 

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References and further reading:

1. Proposed Casuarina Coastal Reserve national park to exclude Lee Point development land, ABC News
2. Beetaloo Basin Traditional Owners gather to fight fracking on their Country, NITV
3. "You won't find Larrakia culture anywhere else in the world", 3CR Community Radio
4. Australia hands control of its newest national parks to Indigenous peoples, National Geographic