Peter Rosendorff, “‘You can’t live off a sacred site’,” New Internationalist, July, 1979, p. 20, with many of Lang Hancock’s own words.

Almost 30 years ago Langley George Hancock — “Lang” to everyone — stumbled over a heap of iron ore rocks in outback Australia, and is now the country’s richest man. In this interview with Peter Rosendorff, Hancock argues strongly that as the nation’s biggest taxpayer he is entitled to more government protection for mining in the face of opposition by minorities such as Aboriginals.

“Hands off the mining industry … and while we’re at it the government must protect the companies from any sorts of claims by Aborigines, by minority groups in the form of trouble-makers like environmentalists … mining must be paramount.”

Lang Hancock is pleading self-interest; but the tone is flinty, commanding, and it fits the image of a rugged outdoor type used to getting his own way. If Hancock sees the paradox in pleading priority for the multi-million dollar multi-national mining industry ahead of the relatively destitute Aboriginal tribes-people, he makes no apology for it.

“The fundamental issue is to make people understand that their very existence depends on mining.”

Twelve hundred miles to the north of Perth, Western Australia, where Hancock is speaking in his office, the elders of Aboriginal tribes are arguing with mining company representatives in exactly contradictory terms; that their continued existence is threatened by mining.

But Hancock is unimpressed. “If you don’t mine you can’t have any civilisation other than what the blackfella had. So irrespective of what rights you think this or that group has or what other theoretical rights that somebody has — the fundamental and paramount right that must be upheld is the right to mine in anybody’s land.

People are number one consideration

“It’s people who are the number one consideration, and their very existence — the very existence of any civilisation — depends on mining. The people who argue for land rights forget this,” Hancock said.

“They also forget that if we don’t break out of the present stagnant economic situation in Australia — and it’s getting worse and worse — the land rights question and all other questions will be settled automatically by someone coming in here and taking what we must produce for the rest of the world.”

He sits forward in his big, black executive swivel chair, and shoots out cufflinks made of polished haematite (iron ore), saying:

“Suppose you do give the Aboriginals land rights … what would happen if you gave them the whole cake? Gave them the whole of Australia? You must remember that Aborigines neither tilled the soil, nor mined it, and therefore they could only live on what nature provided. Under these circumstances Australia could support today a population of less than 400,000 — that’s roughly equivalent to the total number that existed in Australia before European settlement. In those days there were certain groups of Aboriginals living round a waterhole. When there were too many picaninnies (infants) for the waterhole, the elders of the tribe got together and they hit the babies on the head. That’s perfect birth control. That made the absolute number that could live in Australia for I don’t know how many centuries.”

To live like a blackfella

“The problem is that we can’t do that. With our population of 14 million now we can’t simply live on what nature provided either. We would go broke. Mining is paramount, and it must be made so — otherwise we’ve got no economy. The question is: do you want to live, or do you want to die? Do you want to live like a blackfella, or do you want to enjoy the standard of living which mining brings you?”

“I believe that it’s fundamental that the discoverer of minerals should be given first rights to his discovery. Now he can sell it for a bottle of whisky, a loaf of bread, millions of dollars — that’s his specific right … and that right must be respected from the discovery to the development stage, and nothing must be allowed to interfere with it.”

“But what has happened? The government in the Northern Territory has departed from that principle by granting Aboriginals mineral rights without having to discover them — and in the process they have given away the rights to about two-thirds of the Northern Territory. This is the most ridiculous thing you could ever think of. The Aborigines have no obligation to find the ore. This puts them in a privileged position. Aboriginals should have exactly the same rights as any other citizens of Australia — they should not have exclusive rights … you can’t live off a sacred site.”