{"id":317489,"date":"2016-01-20T04:10:44","date_gmt":"2016-01-20T09:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grist.org\/?post_type=grist-50-profiles&p=317489"},"modified":"2016-01-20T04:10:44","modified_gmt":"2016-01-20T09:10:44","slug":"murrawah-johnson","status":"publish","type":"grist-50-profiles","link":"https:\/\/grist.org\/grist-50\/profile\/murrawah-johnson\/","title":{"rendered":"Murrawah Johnson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Green cred:<\/strong> When Adani Group announced plans to dig Australia\u2019s largest coal mine ever, the open-pit Carmichael Mine, the mining consortium perhaps underestimated the tenacity of its greatest adversary: the Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council and People. They are the traditional owners of the land who trace their heritage here back 60,000 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a strong history of activism and protecting our way of life and families,\u201d says family council member Murrawah Johnson, who\u2019s also involved with the Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network. \u201cAdani said, \u2018We want to dig a large open-pit coal mine on top of your river, the river that also feeds five other nations down south.\u2019 So it was time to stand up and fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Says Naomi Klein: “She is one of the most dynamic and vibrant climate activists I’ve ever met.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With the help of Seed and others, Johnson and her uncle Adrian Burragubba decided to hit Adani in the wallet. They embarked on an 18-day world tour to meet with the international banks funding the mine to personally convince them to back out.<\/p>\n

The plan worked. Fifteen of the world\u2019s top 20 fossil fuel investors pulled support for the mine, including Standard Chartered of London, who had planned to invest $680 million.<\/p>\n

While Adani hasn\u2019t pulled the plug yet, the mine now faces a raft of legal challenges in addition to the pulled funding. \u201cIt\u2019s a dead horse that won\u2019t die, essentially,\u201d says Johnson.<\/p>\n

Hear it from the expert:<\/strong> Says author and activist Naomi Klein: \u201cShe is one of the most dynamic and vibrant climate activists I’ve ever met. Murrawah is a powerful spokesperson and organizer who is on the front line of holding back the largest proposed coal mine in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next in 2016:<\/strong> Johnson says polluters and carbon shills will have to watch out for joint campaigns from indigenous youth on mainland Australia and Pacific Islanders. \u201cTheir homes are being inundated by seawater every other night, climate change is so real for them,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Runs in the family:<\/strong> Her grandparents, Edith and Bowman Johnson, were also justice crusaders. When Australian government officials tried to forcibly separate Bowman from his wife and three children in exchange for work under the Aboriginal Protection Act, he refused.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, \u2018Then you can starve,\u2019\u201d she says. “They walked to the next town, lived on the edge of the dump, slept in potato sacks. My uncle was born on the edge of the dump. But he was the first child not born under the Act.\u201d They eventually made it to Brisbane, where they opened a hostel service to provide housing and job opportunities for the community.<\/p>\n

This land is my land:<\/strong> Johnson\u2019s traditional land is about 18 hours\u2019 drive from Brisbane, but she visits often — sometimes driving all night to reach the land, dance, and drive back in time for work or school. One spot means more to her than any other.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in the middle of the bush and it looks like there\u2019s nothing, but there\u2019s these huge wet boulders that pop up with a waterhole in the bottom,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a birthing place. I was standing there with my sisters and I was thinking, My people have been here standing in this water for thousands of years. I have a connection to everyone who\u2019s drank from this stream, stood in this water, and everyone else in the future will, too.\u201d The spot is just a few miles away from the proposed mine site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Green cred: When Adani Group announced plans to dig Australia\u2019s largest coal mine ever, the open-pit Carmichael Mine, the mining consortium perhaps underestimated the tenacity of its greatest adversary: the Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council and People. They are the traditional owners of the land who trace their heritage here back 60,000 years. \u201cWe haveRead More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54839989,"featured_media":490338,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"coauthors":[1],"class_list":["post-317489","grist-50-profiles","type-grist-50-profiles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","grist-50-2"],"yoast_head":"\nMurrawah Johnson - Grist 50<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Murrawah Johnson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Green cred: When Adani Group announced plans to dig Australia\u2019s largest coal mine ever, the open-pit Carmichael Mine, the mining consortium perhaps underestimated the tenacity of its greatest adversary: the Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council and People. 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