Join us in Meanjin/Brisbane for a very special evening with Emmanuel Peni, a human rights defender and co-ordinator of Project Sepik. He has travelled a long way to tell you a story about the fight to keep one of the last uncontaminated river systems in the Asia-Pacific region free of large-scale mining led by outside actors.

The event is free, so grab a friend or two and come along to what promises to be a special night where you can hear directly from a passionate activist at the frontline of climate justice.

Please share the event with your Meanjin/Brisbane friends – together we can build international solidarity for the fight to save the Sepik River.

The night will also feature musical guests. More details to follow.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The Frieda River Mine and the Threat to the Sepik River

The Chinese-owned Australian incorporated company PanAust has plans to build the Frieda River Mine - a huge copper and gold mine in Papua New Guinea just upstream of the mighty Sepik River, one of the largest uncontaminated freshwater wetland systems in the Asia-Pacific region.

If approved, the Frieda River Mine could severely damage the important Papua New Guinean river, and with it the 400,000 local people whose livelihoods depend on it.

As a response to this, Emmanuel Peni started the PNG-based community group Project Sepik together with some of his colleagues. Project Sepik advocates for the vision of a local environment with a sustained balanced of life, and they have a number of concerns relating to the proposed mine, including riverine tailings disposal risks, environmental impacts, social impacts and problems around Free, Prior and Informed Consent.

You can read more about the proposed Frieda River Mine and the potential impacts of it in the report ‘The River is Not Ours’ published in May 2019 as a collaboration between Project Sepik and Jubilee Australia Research Centre