Gone Fishing. Man Passes Up $5 Billion.

If someone offered you $5 billion (AUD) for a bunch of rocks in the ground, do you reckon you’d say something like; nah, mate, thanks, but no thanks. Which is pretty much what Jeffrey Lee said to French energy company when they wanted to extract 14,000 tonnes of uranium from his ancestoral land, Koongarra, adjacent to Kakadu National Park in Australia’s Northern Territory. Australia is the world’s leading exporter of uranium, but that didn’t faze Jeffrey, who’s the sole remaining Djok clan member and senior custodian of the Koongarra uranium deposit. "I'm not interested in money. I've got a job; I can buy tucker; I can go fishing and hunting. That's all that matters to me."

A park ranger in nearby Kakadu he plans see the site added to that park, which is also listed as a World Heritage site under UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation). "Being part of the park will ensure that the traditional laws, customs, sites, bush tucker, trees, plants and water stay the same as when they were passed on to me by my father and great-grandfather," he said. Via ::The Sydney Morning Herald.