The Ranger uranium mine has been mining on a lease inside the Kakadu National Park for 30 years. Now following the Japanese Fukushima nuclear fiasco the traditional land owners say that they do not want uranium mining to continue on their land. The Mirarr people want the Jabiluka uranium deposit to not be mined and included into the national park protection area.

The Jabiluka uranium deposit lies 300 km east of Darwin. The senior traditional Aboriginal owner of country around Jabiru, Yvonne Margarula wrote to the United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon to express sympathy for the Japanese people affected by the recent earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis at Fukushima.

TEPCO, the company which owns and operates the Fukushima plant, is a long-time customer of Rio Tinto's Energy Resources Australia which operates Ranger uranium mine. She also said that the Mirarr remain opposed to Jabiluka's development adding that the Fukushima incident only strengthens their resolve. She said in the letter that the Ranger mine was forced on the Mirarr people 30 years ago and that it undermined the legitimacy of the Aboriginal Land Rights.

Production at the Ranger mine is currently suspended due to persistent water management problems. The heavy rains are posing greater environmental risk. On Thursday the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation said that more than 10 million liters of contaminated water was present on the Ranger site.