There is more than enough uranium in other places. There is only one Arkaroola. Once broken, can't be fixed.

Hi Isobel. First congratultions on taking your team to Arkaroola. I believe hot on your tails was Premier Rann, Ministers Holloway and Caica who paid a "Flying" visit there on Sat 31 July. Thanks for forcing their hand on this hot issue.

I have had a connection with Arkaroola since the 1980's as a bushwalker and conservationist and just last year I was part of a 2 week long biodiversity survey group (Scientific Expedition Group Inc) and most recently on 31st July as Premier Rann and others had just arrived back from the Ridge Top Tour (which tour must have impressed you and your party in its ruggedness and prestime environment - one to preserve for all time).

I have had feedback from people I know at Arkaroola that your party seems split on whether to allow mining in the Sanctuary or not. I believe including yourself who is not averse to mining - please don't allow mining to take place in this unique landscape and ruin it for generations to come.

Hi Isobel.. Please oppose mining in Arkaroola, as unfortunately once mining starts is is hard to undo damage that has been done. Arkaroola is an amazingly special place from which there is still so much to learn, from ecosystems to the geology & everything in between. The sad fact is that while we know so little the environmental impact studies that mining companies are required to present only scratch the surface as what to the effects may or may not be. I think it would be sad to lose a resource that the next generation can learn a lot from for the sake of a quick buck..
Regards
Marianne

I am greatly concerned that the SA government is proposing to allow the mining company Marathon Resources to go on from exploring - and to mine the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary.

My family have previously lived and worked at Arkaroola for over 10 years and we know and love the area and are afraid that it may all disappear if mining of this beautiful place is allowed. We believe any mining in Arkaroola would have dire consequences for the area if it is allowed to go ahead.

Marathon Resources mining exploration lease in Arkaroola was suspended last year when it was discovered that they had illegally dumped a huge amount of radio-active waste in various places in the Sanctuary, this was only from exploration drilling so we dread to think what mess a real mine would leave. Now, after a slap on the wrist it’s ludicrous to hear the company was allowed back into the sanctuary again!

The proposed new zones don't correspond to any natural or cultural divisions in the landscape. They seem to be just a device to allow the discredited Marathon Resources to set up camp in the very heart of Arkaroola's spectacular highlands and adjacent to the acclaimed Ridgetop Tours.

Mt Gee, Marathons current target is a unique mountain of crystal created from the fossilized remains of an ancient hot spring system and today is even a Heritage Listed Geological Monument! Its unfathomable that people are considering destroying it! My family finds it completely appalling and ask is there nothing that money can’t buy!

SA already has two uranium mines and others soon to start; there will only ever be one Arkaroola. If mining is allowed, the infrastructure that goes with it such as heavy trucks, slurry pits, mining buildings and access roads criss-crossing the sanctuary, will make a mockery of the title ‘wilderness sanctuary’.

Having lived in Arkaroola and experienced the beauty for many years our family believes the landscape is unique and irreplaceable and as such is well worth keeping free of mining.

Please don't allow mining in such an irreplaceable, pristine landscape.

Please protect Arkaroola.

It is an area which deserves to be conserved in it's own right. Uranium mining and conservation is not compatible. Please do everything with in your power to oppose any mining in this high conservation value area and ensure that the area is protected with in the full power of the law.

I am amazed that this is even under consideration by the government it is known that this area is extremely important geologically, biologically and for eco-tourism. I hope that the area is recognised and that the precautionary principle of Ecological Sustainable Development is used to prevent the destruction which mining will bring to the area.

kind regards
Tammy-Jo Sutton

I have been fortunate enough to visit Arkaroola once, and somewhere I desperately want to return to. I love the rugged bush out there, and the conservation efforts of the Spriggs family in removing feral animals and preserving the area is amazing. There are endangered species there like the yellow rock wallabies, should we allow one of their last inhabited areas to be mined and destroyed?

It is one of the most amazing areas I have ever been fortunate enough to camp in and enjoy. Would the government even consider mining if it was as well known as Wilpena and that happened to have uranium under it? Arkaroola is only less known because of it's isolation - and should be better known and cared for as it is much more important than Wilpena.

Leave it as it is

Dear Ms Redmond,

Please save Arkaroola! 40 years of conservation work is a long time and much hard work. The different species of flora and fauna is enough on its own to SAVE ARKAROOLA please

Yours sincerely
Di Jones

Marathon have proved by their own past actions that they can't be trusted to conduct exploration in such a sensitive location without environmental vandalism. I don't even want to think what they would do if they actually started mining.

Besides, I stongly believe that Arkaroola should be granted the same conservation status as the rest of the Flinders / Gammon Ranges national parks. It is too precious to mine. Douglas Mawson and Reg Sprigg, both geologists, saw that Arkaroola required protection - and that was over 60 years ago! Surely we have progressed since then...

If mining is allowed in Arkaroola, we may as well throw out the idea of protection, and National Parks in general. Don't mine this area. It is too important. We don't really need to at the moment anyway. Also, I recall the CEO (or similar) of Marathon saying in an Advertiser interview that "if Rann says it can't be done, then it can't be done." That comment provides one of the easiest "outs" in recorded history in my opinion.

Please protect Arkaroola.

It is an area which deserves to be conserved in it's own right. Uranium mining and conservation is not compatible. Please do everything with in your power to oppose any mining in this high conservation value area and ensure that the area is protected with in the full power of the law.

I am amazed that this is even under consideration by the government it is known that this area is extremely important geologically, biologically and for eco-tourism. I hope that the area is recognised and that the precautionary principle of Ecological Sustainable Development is used to prevent the destruction which mining will bring to the area.

Arkaroola is the most loved piece of the Flinders Ranges. I live in the Central Flinders and manage the Rawnsley Park Station Caravan Park. Every visitor to this area like it, but when they come back from Arkaroola they can't believe how much more spectacular Arkaroola is than the central flinders. Everyone comes back talking about the area with such passion and energy you just wonder how a piece of land can touch people in such a way.
Allowing mining in this country would not only disturb and damage parts of the country but damage the feeling people get from visiting this region. Since Marathon have been in there I have heard many people not going there because they can't bear to see the damage being done. Tourism in the area will be affected dramtically if mining is allowed please don't let this happen.

It was good to see the Libs taking the time and effort to visit Arkaroola-pitty the Gov. dont have the same interest in things conservation,-----------the union boss [AWU] who says Marathon will employ 1500 to 1900 people, he MUST BE JOKING a low grade deposit of infered size only and a very limited ''shelf life'' of costly underground mining. . We have many of areas in S.A.to be explored by companies with credability not ''Cowboy''outfits that have a shocking track record of violating both the law and the enviroment

Go for it Issy, help kick them out

I am yet to visit Arkaroola and I intend to later this year.I desperately hope I can see it in natural,beautiful state,now and forever more.All I can do is add my name to the many other opinions expressed.Once mining is allowed it is so hard to undo the damage.If we are not careful we are going to end up with a sterile Australia.

First let me say that I am certainly not opposed to mining in South Australia (SA). It is one of the strengths of our State, and very necessary to a robust and healthy state economy.
However, on the subject of mining on Arkaroola, it is time to say 'enough is enough' and protect that beauttiful and unique wilderness area.

With one of the countries largest uranium mines only a few kilometeres away in an easily mined flat-land area, we really don't need to 'trash' one of the world's greatest geological monuments for the sake of a few extra dollars in the coffers of the government and shareholders pockets.

Let's show the rest of the country that SA really does value our precious environment, and place a protection over Arkaroola that will remain in perpetuity.

I have recently spent an hour watching yellow footed rock wallabies run about at Arkaroola. Truely a magnificent place and too fragile to play with. For our childrens sake, leave it alone. Dont mine.

Arkaroola should be protected against mining. It is a South Australian tourist icon and should be given the protection it needs to maintain that status. It is too valuable and significant to be ruined by mining. Besides there is a lot of uranium elsewhere in this state.

"On the other hand, Arkaroola is also the site of over 40 years of conservation work and home to many threatened species."

This is a massive understatement. The conservation value and biological, archeological and geological significance of this area is literally incomparable to anywhere else in the world. In fact, there was a new species of tree frog discovered in Arkaroola just a couple of months ago. Can you imagine how many other species probably exist in the area, waiting to be discovered? The Sprigg family have done an incredible job of keeping this area pristine. Let's leave it this way!

Thank you Isobel for taking the time to visit this majestic area - and we look forward to hearing your decision about the state Liberal Party's stance on mining in Arkaroola.

You are to be congratulated on paying a visit to Arkaroola and seeing it with your own eyes. I hope you enjoyed its wonders as much as I have over many visits. This is a unique area from a geological, biodiversity and tourism point of view. I believe that it should be preserved as a wilderness area forever, as it would have been in many other places. South Australia has few enough natural attractions without allowing more mining exploration to further degrade the area. It already shows many scars of previous mining efforts . The opportunity for governments and mining companies to make a quick buck at the expense of a natural wonder should be strongly resisted.

Uranium vs. Threatened species. -Why is there even a debate over this?

If we want to use South Australian land more productively, we should invest in farming which is sustainable and will contribute to our future, instead of mining and ruining Arkaroola forever.

I commend you for taking the time to visit the place personally. I urge you to consider the value the area has as an award winning eco-tourism development, its cultural and historical significance, and the special place it holds in many visitors hearts.

More to the point, there are plenty of other places to mine uranium in SA that do not involve allowing a reckless company to destroy a declared Wilderness Sanctuary.

And most pressingly, I urge you to take the opportunity to demonstrate a stark difference between Labour and Liberal, to South Australian Voters, that the Liberal Party is not beholden to corporate interests, and will prevent an inappropriate development. What an uncomfortable position Labour will be in, when both the liberals and the greens, acknowledge that granting a new exploration license is inappropriate.

Arkaroola is too precious to mine.

thank you for your time,

Paul Grillo