Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth)
Notice of an application for the protection of Lawlers Well – Maules Creek, Boggabri, New South Wales
Invitation to make representations
I, Susan Phillips, hereby give notice as follows:
The Minister for the Environment, responsible for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) (the Act), has received an application made under section 10 of the Act seeking to protect an area known as Lawlers Well, located near Boggabri, New South Wales, and appointed me to provide a report to him under section 10(1)(c) of the Act.
The applicants
The application is made by a group known as the Gomeroi Traditional Custodians.
The purpose of the application
The application seeks the preservation or protection of the area specified in the application, and further below, from injury or desecration. Section 10 of the Act enables the Minister to decide whether to make a declaration to preserve and protect the specified area, if the Minister is satisfied that the area is a significant Aboriginal area and is under threat of injury or desecration. In the Act, the term ‘significant Aboriginal area’ refers to an area that is of particular significance to Aboriginals in accordance with Aboriginal tradition. Section 3 of the Act provides definitions of ‘significant Aboriginal area’ and other relevant terms including ‘Aboriginal tradition’ and ‘injured or desecrated’. The area specified for protection, the claimed significance of the area, and the claimed nature of the threat of injury or desecration is set out below.
Matters the report is required to deal with
The Minister will consider my report under section 10 of the Act in relation to the area specified for protection before deciding whether to make a declaration under section 10 of the Act. Under section 10(4) of the Act, the report is required to deal with the following matters:
(a) the particular significance of the area to Aboriginals;
(b) the nature and extent of the threat of injury to, or desecration of, the area;
(c) the extent of the area that should be protected;
(d) the prohibitions and restrictions to be made with respect to the area;
(e) the effects the making of a declaration may have on the proprietary or pecuniary interests of persons other than the Aboriginal or Aboriginals on whose behalf the application is made;
(f) the duration of any declaration; and
(g) the extent to which the area is or may be protected by or under a law of the State of New South Wales, and the effectiveness of any remedies available under any such law.
The area sought to be protected (the 'specified area')
The applicants specify the area for which protection is sought as ‘Lawlers Well’ bounded by the following coordinates:
Point 1 Latitude 30°34'16.50"S Longitude 150° 8'49.55"E
Point 2 Latitude 30°34'16.68"S Longitude 150° 8'44.82"E
Point 3 Latitude 30°34'26.96"S Longitude 150° 8'49.11"E
Point 4 Latitude 30°34'26.14"S Longitude 150° 8'54.32"E
Figure 1 map showing Lawlers Well in relation to the Maules Creek Coal Mine
Claimed nature of particular significance
The application indicates that the particular significance of the specified area arises because the area:
- is a sacred site with traditional and post contact heritage values including an ancient camping ground , a rare assemblage and place of sacred ceremony including a scarred tree.
- is an ancient and predesignated pathway for the purpose of meeting at particular locations of great cultural and mythical-historical importance including a nearby bora ground.
Claimed threat of injury or desecration
The application indicates that the injury or desecration is attributed to the development of the Maules Creek Mine in the Leard State Forest near Boggabri, New South Wales, by Whitehaven Coal Limited. The application claims that mine works will injure or desecrate the area by clearing the forest and using open cut mining technologies to dig up Lawlers Well which will obliterate the cultural landscape and will be inconsistent with their cultural values and places of significance.
Invitation to make representations
Interested persons are invited to furnish representations in connection with my report to:
Susan Phillips
Barrister
13 St James Hall
169 Phillip Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Telephone: (02) 9335 3063
Email: phillips@stjames.net.au
Representations must be made in writing by close of business by 29 June 2016 or within such further period as may be allowed. You should not send your representations directly to the Minister.
If you wish to claim confidentiality over any part of your representation, please identify why you are claiming confidentiality and how you want confidentiality to apply. Representations will be provided to the Minister for Environment, and Department of the Environment, along with the section 10 report. Representations, even those subject to confidentiality, may be disclosed where it is authorised or required by law, to meet procedural fairness requirements, and in response to a request by a House or Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth.