YURLU | COUNTRY

“The country is poisoned. Making black and white sick. All my Old People [ancestors] are crying for Country. We are all sick!” – The late Maitland Parker

The Wittenoom asbestos mines left behind three million tonnes of waste rock, laced with deadly asbestos, turning 46,000ha of Banjima’s Yurlu (Country) into a toxic waste dump. This is Australia’s very own Chernobyl-scale disaster – a sacrifice zone on Banjima lands.

Who will take responsibility for healing Banjima Country? How can justice be served for those who have lost their land, culture, and lives to Wittenoom’s toxic legacy?

Yurlu | Country explores these questions through the story of the late Aboriginal Elder Maitland Parker, who called his traditional homelands “Poison Country”— a haunting truth he carried in his body as he too succumbed to its toxic legacy.

YURLU | COUNTRY offers a powerful examination of environmental and social justice. It reveals the devastating impact of Wittenoom’s toxic legacy while honoring the resilience of Banjima people fighting to reclaim and heal their land. The film charts the struggle for remediation, the challenges of dispossession, and the enduring strength of those working to restore Country, culture, and justice.

2026 marks 60 years of inaction.

The Wittenoom asbestos mines left three million tonnes of rock waste across 46,000ha of Banjima Yurlu (Country), turning sacred land into a toxic sacrifice zone.

The film offers a powerful examination of environmental and social justice, revealing the toll on land, lives, and culture, while honoring Banjima resilience in the fight to heal Country.

Thousands have died, with Aboriginal people in the Pilbara suffering the world’s highest mortality rate from mesothelioma.

The toxic legacy violates Native Title and UN rights, cutting people off from ceremony, land, and culture.

Government reports warn asbestos will contaminate land and water for ‘hundreds of years’ – now realised with contamination detected outside the exclusion zone.

Australia can fix this. The question is—why won’t we? It’s a moral choice

Sixty years of inaction have cost us all.

To achieve justice, restoration, and accountability for Wittenoom by remediating toxic asbestos waste on Banjima Country, reclaiming Indigenous rights, and ensuring no community suffers the consequences from inaction any longer. #CleanUpWittenoom

The WA government has had remediation plans since 1985. Cleaning up Wittenoom is possible.

OUTCOMES

1. Clean Up Wittenoom: Support Banjima’s campaign through impact screenings, advocacy, and media to pressure policymakers. Raise awareness via parliamentary and UN Side Events to secure remediation commitments.

2. Bridge Cultural Connection: Empower Pilbara Aboriginal communities through education, storytelling, and truth-telling. Launch a Roadshow with screenings, youth programs, and social media campaigns led by First Nations voices.

3. Drive Systems Change: Use the film to push for corporate accountability and mining reform. Engage investors and advocacy groups to influence ESG policy and create long-term change.

In a rare collaboration, the late Maitland Parker is Co-writer, Executive Producer, and protagonist of this documentary. Knowing he would one day lose his battle with mesothelioma, he gave clear instructions for his name and image to be used after his passing.

Maitland passed away during the final stages of filming, and his family have reviewed and approved the final cut and impact strategy in line with his wishes.

The Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, is providing support, and serving as a key Impact Partner.

In development, watch this space.