Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth)
Notice of an application for the protection of a specified area, being the area known as the Bellwood Sacred Site, New South Wales
Invitation to make representations
I, Daniel Leo, hereby give notice as follows:
The Minister for the Environment and Energy, 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 a specified area, being the area known as the Bellwood Sacred Site, near Nambucca Heads in New South Wales. The Minister has appointed me to provide a report to him under section 10(1)(c) of the Act.
The Applicant
The application is made by the Nambucca Heads Local Aboriginal Land Council.
The purpose of the application
The application seeks the preservation or protection of the area specified in the application and depicted below in Figure 1, 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 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 sought to be protected 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 Western Australia, and the effectiveness of any remedies available under any such law.
The area sought to be protected (the 'specified area')
The Applicant has specified one area for which protection is sought as a traditional area. This is the area known as the Bellwood Sacred Site, in New South Wales.
Figure 1: Map showing the specified area of Bellwood Sacred Site
Claimed nature of particular significance
The Applicant states that the specified area is of particular significance in accordance with Aboriginal tradition because it has long been recognised to be a significant Aboriginal area and partially protected as such. Other statements made by the Applicant include that:
- it is a culturally and gender significant place that Women are not allowed to see or be close to;
- the area is the focal point of cultural belief on the entire Gumbaynggirr Nation;
- the area contains not only areas of ceremony, but the walking tracks used for 6000 years for the specific purpose of initiation and meeting;
- the area is a yam collection site; and
- the area forms a Cultural Landscape that was used for initiation purposes and includes Gumma and Gaagal Wanggaan.
Claimed threat of injury or desecration
The Applicant states that the potential injury or desecration is attributed to some of the activities that Waifand Superannuation Fund has specified in its roadworks as well as housing development and harvesting that will be undertaken by the Forestry Corporation of NSW. The threat is primarily attributed to, first, the proposed location of, and works associated with, the creation of a link road to connect Alexandra drive and Marshall Way, as well as housing development along this road, and second, a native forest harvesting operation in the Nambucca State Forest. The Applicant states that plans by both parties would severely injure and desecrate the Bellwood Sacred Site and would have the effect of severing Bellwood Sacred Site from the rest of Gumbaynggirr country as well as the cultural connection the Gumbaynggirr Nation have with the site.
Invitation to make representations
Interested persons are invited to furnish representations in connection with my report to:
Daniel Leo
Director, Leo Anthropological Service Pty Ltd
11 Tallowood Crescent
Byron Bay NSW 2481
Telephone: 0487 266 622
Email: danleo@mail.com
Representations must be made in writing by 5pm NSW time on Wednesday 8 August 2018 or within such further period as may be allowed. You should not send your representations directly to the Minister.
Representations received by the due date will subsequently be provided to all interested parties, and thereafter the applicant and interested parties will be afforded an additional period of two weeks to make a final comment.
If you wish to claim confidentiality over any part of your representation, please identify why you are claiming confidentiality and how you wish confidentiality to apply. Representations will be provided to the Minister for the Environment and Energy and the Department of the Environment and Energy, 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.