Nhulunbuy Corporation

Quick facts about Nhulunbuy * Population: 2,400 (projected as at February 2015) * Postcode: 0880 * Location: 996km from Darwin, 12km from Yirrkala * Average maximum temperature: 31C * Average minimum temperature: 23C * Average annual rainfall: 1,174.7mm History of the Gove Peninsula and Nhulunbuy township North East Arnhem Land has been home to the Yolngu Aboriginal people for at least 40,000 years. Matthew Flinders and Lennon Steele circumnavigated Australia in 1803, meeting the Macassan trading fleet near present day Nhulunbuy. This encounter led to the establishment of settlements on Melville Island and the Coburg Peninsula. In 1963, a Federal Government decision excised part of the land on the Gove Peninsula for a bauxite mine to be operated by the North Australian Bauxite and Alumina Company (now Rio Tinto Alcan Gove). The Yolngu community at Yirrkala were strongly opposed to this decision, and forwarded the renowned Bark Petition to Parliament House in Canberra. This act attracted national and international attention and the Petition still hangs in Parliament House. The Yolngu community subsequently launched legal action in 1971 (Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd) resulting in the historic Gove Land Rights case. The Australian court was bound by the terra nullius principle, which did not allow for the recognition of any prior land rights from Indigenous people. However, the court acknowledged the Yolngu ceremonial and economic use of the land, paving the way for future Aboriginal land rights in Australia. The township of Nhulunbuy was established in 1968 to house workers employed by Swiss Aluminum and their families. The bauxite mine is now operated by Rio Tinto who acquired Alcan in 2007. In November 2013, Rio Tinto Alcan announced the curtailment of operations at its refinery. Whilst the bauxite mine operation will continue, it is expected that the curtailment will bring about significant change to the township.

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