Notice of an application for the protection of a specified area, being the area known as the Wallum Development Site, New South Wales Invitation to make representations

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

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 Wallum Development Site, New South Wales

Invitation to make representations

I, Fenella Atkinson, hereby give notice as follows:

The Minister for the Environment and Water (Minister), responsible for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) (ATSIHP Act), has received an application made under section 10 of the ATSIHP Act. The application is seeking protection of an area known as the Wallum development site, 15 Torakina Road, Brunswick Heads in New South Wales. The Minister has appointed me to provide a report to the Minister under paragraph 10(1)(c) of the ATSIHP Act.

The Applicant

The application is made on behalf of Ms Arabella Douglas, a Minyungbul Mulanjali person of the Bundjalung Nation (applicant).

Matters the report is required to deal with

The Minister must consider my report pursuant to section 10 of the ATSIHP Act before deciding whether to make a declaration under section 10 of the ATSIHP Act. Under subsection 10(4) of the ATSIHP Act, the report must deal with the following:

1.            the particular significance of the area to Aboriginals;
2.            the nature and extent of the threat of injury to, or desecration of, the area;

1.             the extent of the area that should be protected;
2.            the prohibitions and restrictions to be made with respect to the area;
3.            the effects the making of a declaration may have on the proprietary or pecuniary interests of persons other than the Aboriginal or Aboriginals who made the application, or on whose behalf the application is made;
4.              the duration of any declaration;
5.             the extent to which the area is or may be protected by or under a law of a State or Territory, and the effectiveness of any remedies available under any such law; and
6.            such other matters (if any) as prescribed.

The purpose of the application

The application seeks the long-term preservation or protection of the area specified in the application (the specified area). This area is depicted in Figure 1.

The specified area

Figure 1 depicts the area for which preservation and protection is sought. This specified area is described as the Wallum development site, Lot 13, DP 1251383, 15 Torakina Road, Brunswick Heads, New South Wales.

Figure 1: Map showing the specified area of the Wallum development site

Claims in relation to ‘significant Aboriginal area’

The applicant claims that the specified area, and objects within it, is of particular significance to Aboriginal people, including all clans of the Bundjalung Nation, in accordance with Aboriginal tradition for the following reasons:

• the area’s role in the creation story of the Three Brothers
• the area’s role in providing spiritual pathways
• the area’s importance as a meeting place and camp site throughout history
• the area’s connection to fresh water
• it is a place for practicing spiritual ceremony
• the fact the area is a vital habitat for totemic species
• the presence of spiritually significant trees, including grandparent trees and trees with scarring
• the presence of significant stones in the area and landscape features that are oriented with the stars and sky, which forms a cosmological system
• the area’s spiritual significance is ignited and activated in specific seasons aligned with astronomical patterns and Totemic movements across the seasons
• the connection of the area to the six seasons
• the area is an intersection of pathways that link to totemic associations and provide access to sacred sites
• the area is an educational site for young people.  

Claimed threat of injury or desecration

The applicant claims that the specified area is under threat from development and associated works proposed by Clarence Property Corporation Limited. The applicant outlines the following claims in relation to threat of injury or desecration:

• the erection of fencing is prohibiting access to the site and free movement of totemic species, which is inconsistent with Aboriginal tradition as it will:
  • impede clans, including the Minyungbul, from accessing and using a site that is central to stories, ceremonies, lore and cultural expression;
  • block physical access to pathways, which would block the spiritual access to individual stories of creation;
  • totemic species, and spiritual and environmental education will be disturbed and interrupted.
• cutting of trees would cause people with the koala, hawk or cockatoo totem to lose access to their entire site and the opportunity to practice ceremony and maintain lores;
• removal of the Grandmother Tree would cause the loss of orientation of where to birth properly or how to take water for the nurturing of spiritual practice;
• the ability to educate and maintain a direct relationship with the first sunrise and the brother from whom Minyungbul come will be removed. The destruction would also remove access to tell the Story of a creation of Minyungbul clan and peoples;
• works will break up the spiritual trilogy with the Sunrise Creation Story of the first light. Its greatest impact is to Minyungbul peoples, but it will affect all three brother lines which are intrinsically connected by spirit, practice and totemic relationships.

Invitation to make representations

Interested parties are invited to furnish representations in connection with my report to:

Fenella Atkinson

Palimpsest Consultancy

PO Box 807

Marrickville NSW 1475

Mobile: 0415 941 628

Email: fenella@palimpsest.au
Interested parties are urged to contact me as soon as possible to be provided with further information about the reporting process.

Representations must be made in writing by 5pm AEST on Wednesday 24 December or within such further period as may be allowed. Do not send your representations directly to the Minister. First Nations people without representatives may provide an oral representation.

Representations made by, or on behalf of, more than one person should be signed by each of those persons.

Representations may subsequently be provided to the applicant and other interested parties for their review and comment in order to meet procedural fairness requirements.

Claiming confidentiality

If you wish to claim confidentiality over any part of your representation, please contact me for further information. 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 the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (department), 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.

Privacy

Your personal information is protected by law, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

Please read this notice carefully before submitting a representation about the application.

Collection and use of your personal information

Your representation may contain your personal information, such as your name, contact details, your identity as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person, and your opinions about the application.

By submitting a representation, you consent to your personal information being collected by me for the purpose of:

• Contacting you about your representation, including for verification or clarification purposes;
• Preparing my report and briefing the Minister;
• The Minister making a decision in relation to the application.

and for related purposes. You also consent to your personal information being collected by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water for these same purposes.

Disclosure of your personal information

I may need to disclose your personal information to the department and the Minister for the purposes listed above. I may also need to disclose your personal information to:

• Third parties that may be affected by the Minister’s decision, where necessary to meet procedural fairness requirements;
• Commonwealth, State or Territory entities and/or persons or organisations, where necessary to prepare my report and/or for the Minister to make a decision about the application.

Your personal information will not be disclosed to overseas recipients unless necessary for the above purposes.

Anonymous representations

You can make an anonymous representation or use a pseudonym. However, this may mean I cannot verify information provided in your representation and/or take your representation into account.

Representations containing other people’s personal information

If your representation contains the personal information of another person, you must ensure they have agreed to their personal information being collected, used and disclosed in accordance with this privacy notice. This includes giving them a copy of this public notice and the privacy notice.

Privacy Policy

The department's Privacy Policy is available at https://www.dcceew.gov.au/about/commitment/privacy and explains how personal information is handled by the department, how to access or correct your personal information, and how to make a complaint.