----- Original Message -----

From: maureen brannan

To: Fed Dept Env Peter Graham ; Fed Enviro compliance ; Fed Enviro-Alistair Cockburn ; Fed Heritage Dr David Collett ; Fed Heritage Min Tony Burke ; Fed Heritage Rochelle Johnston ; Fed Leader of Opposition ; Fed Min Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin ; Fed Shadow Environment Minister ; Greens Bob Brown ; Kevin Rudd ; NSW Min for Aboriginal Affairs Victor Dominello ; NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell ; Peter Garrett ; Prof S James Anaya,OHCHR, UN

Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:12 PM

Subject: Some crucial information re the Ancestral Creator Being 'Bula' - Notes 2 & 4

To: NSW Premier, NSW Aboriginal Heritage Minister, PM, Federal Aboriginal Heritage Minister, Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister

Important additions to: Some crucial information re the Ancestral Creator Being 'Bula' - Notes 2 & 4

To enable you to understand a little more of this Ancestor Creator Being, whose fate lies in your hands, allow me to recount an epiphany I had on the 16^th September, 2000. I was living in a converted church in the village of Cloyna, watching the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympics. The Aboriginal dancers were stunning and I was transfixed by the whole spectacle. Suddenly, a gigantic sculpture of an Aboriginal mythical being rose out of the ground … it literally took my breath away … it was a revelation to me, but I did not yet realise just how universally profound this event was. I had never seen a Wandjina before and thereafter resolved to find out more. The months past and I researched more and more about the Wandjina and Aboriginal Lore in general, and suddenly one day, as I was mulling over a topographical map of my land (as I often did), an energetic earth entity jumped out at me and the image of the Wandjina rose again – the two round spring billabongs on my land became his eyes, and the area around the waterholes including the 200-year-old Knowledge Tree, last remnant of the vine forests that once thrived here whose surface roots spread all the way to the billabong and tapped deep down into the spring, came under the influence of this sacred ‘estate’. Then a migratory route jumped out at me – it passed through places of significance from further north; the crossing place over Murullbakgera ‘River of the Breathing Fish’(1), Coalstoun Crater Lakes, Ban Ban Springs, Windera lagoon and other major waterholes, all the way through the Woorroolin Swamps to the Bunya Lands beyond – it ran straight through the twin billabongs, which a local pioneering family and some Cherbourg people confirmed had been a very popular camping place for Aborigines and settlers alike, where a good feed was always assured, any time of the year. (2)

Many years later, I picked up a library book which explained to me exactly what the Wandjina was and how its spirit had opened my mind to the unseen world, the forces of Nature that underpinned Aboriginal Lore. The book was Yorro Yorro – everything standing up alive(3) by Mowaljarlai and Jutta Malnic, concerning Aboriginal Creation Law and the renewal of Nature. Channels had been opened in my mind and I felt the new energy in my heart & soul – revelations followed in quick succession and continue to this day, far too many to recount.. I attribute it in part to living by the Tree of Wisdom, Knowledge and Law* for so many years – it seems to fill me with understanding about the world and its myriad relationships. All indigenous cultures say that significant old-growth trees are channels of Earth’s magnetic energy that work through humans to teach them about the natural world around them. This immutable Truth has been expounded by a great many Aboriginal Law men and women - Oodgeroo said that you only have to listen to the ‘Old Men of the Forest’ and they will tell you where the game is to be found, where the fruiting plants are etc. – everything you need to know about your habitat to be healthy, biologically wealthy, and wise and keep people happy.

The Guardian Tree was a major transmitter of these formidable yet subtle planetary/cosmic forces/flows of energy carrying information,(4) as is Frog Rock, as were the other 20 identified trees of significance, to a lesser degree maybe but equally important in the overall job they performed in balancing the plant, animal and mineral components of the Bula telluric ‘super-computer’, and keeping all in equilibrium. Bula sites can be seen as major nodes in a network that is embedded in the continental body, all linked underground as the fruiting bodies of mushrooms, linked by mycelium into one entity. The Bula tradition is on a par with the Wandjina in its importance in maintaining the equilibrium of ecology, including, and especially, humanity’s part within it. I am including this research into the Bula tradition in my thesis on the Songlines for Southern Cross University’s Bachelor of Arts Indigenous Studies. I am praying that Bula’s major site on this continent will not be mindlessly and unnecessarily destroyed beyond redemption by the NSW state and federal governments whose ignorance and arrogance know no bounds.

Maureen Brannan, S>A>N>E> (Save Australia's Native Ecology),

905 Wilsons Road

CLOYNA QLD 4605

ph: 0427710523 email: mbrannan8@bigpond.com blog: www.worldatpolarity.blogspot.com

(1) Inundated by the impoundment of the Paradise Dam (as well as 45 kms of Gondwana riverine ecosystem, unique on the planet) which stopped the last free-flowing stretches of a river that has flowed unchanged for 160 million years and illegally inundating the banks the Goodnight Scrub National Park's major creek, which had NOT been excised from its protective legal status as the river had been. Australia’s paradoxically oldest yet youngest National Park was GUTTED, the river’s Dreaming annihilated, its heart removed and spirit crushed for the commercial gain of corrupt officials. It was bulldozed through by one man alone - Peter Beattie - and everyone in local, state and federal government allowed him to do it without a word.

(3) Excerpt from Yorro Yorro – everything standing up alive: Mowaljarlai died on 24 September 1997. A funeral ceremony in Derby brought together from all over Australia and New Zealand many who had known and respected this inspirational elder. His body was then flown to the Mitchell Plateau to be placed traditionally on a stone platform. Three years later, the bones were collected, washed, ochred, smoked and taken to "camp in camp" until his relatives were ready for the djunbar to set his spirit free for the journey to Dulugun. He had said repeatedly during the two final years of his life: "We have to bring Wandjina Spirit across from the Kimberley to the East of the continent to empower Sydney for the Olympics. Then that spirit will go out into the world." Three years later, the ochred and smoked bones were finally placed in a Kimberley Wandjina cave. In Aboriginal belief his spirit was free. The date was 16 September 2000. The night before, during the Olympic opening ceremony in Homebush Stadium, Sydney, a gigantic Wandjina image was raised over Aboriginal dancers, the Worrorra Wandjina Namarali. Three and a half billion people saw it and in those few short moments, Wandjina spirit was all over the world.

(4) Evidence suggests hat the memory-retaining area in the Western brain is smaller than in indigenous people's brains. This atrophying probably began with the invention of the printing press; as the Western civilisation put more and more of its culture into books (now on computer) and had no more need to retain it in its completeness in their brains, and as specialisation drove single streams of knowledge, our brains no longer needed to hold the vast amounts of the holistic, physical and meta-physical knowledges needed to continue the native cultures we had evolved over hundreds of thousands of years. Consequently, genetically-mutated Westerners are now incapable of computing and interpreting these subtle energy flows, and performing the instantaneous processing and cross-referencing of all the incoming information needed to balance the 'whole' - Mowaljarlia calls this ability "pattern thinking" - only Western polymaths are capable of this type of thinking. In matters of environmental engineering therefore, we must defer to traditional Aboriginal land custodians who are fortunate enough to be biologically able to perform this critical role in balancing ecosystems. In identifying biodiversity loss as the biggest threat BY FAR facing the health of the planet (CO2 being the third), the Director of the Climate Change Institute at the ANU has underpinned just how valuable Indigenous wisdom will be to the future of the human race.

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(My representation to Minister Burke re Cynthia Dungay Dates' Submission under section 10 of the ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER HERITAGE PROTECTION ACT 1984 to protect the mountain in its entirety, including a stretch of river where her people used to camp.)(Apolgies for the size of this email but Ministers do not accept attachments)

WAKING BULA

When the Great Creator Bula had gone through the throes of creation that had formed the landscape, he entered stone and water as he settled into his final resting place in a sacred mountain .... and slept. He has been sleeping there ever since, in peace and serenity throughout the millennia. The First People came to know him as 'The Sleeping Giant', the genius loci of their country. They came to his mountain to bathe in the healing energies that emanated from the slumbering entity, to purify mind, body and soul in his crystal clear streams. When the people passed away, ancient tree shrines standing sentinel at the base of mountain guarding Bula’s domain, accepted their mortal remains on platforms erected in their branches [[i]]– in due course, the ancestors’ ochred bones were reverently carried to the top of the mountain and secretly interred deep inside caves. Women came here to give birth beneath their special tree, eating the herbs that grew around it to ease their pains. They brought their children here to be initiated into deeper and ever more profound gnosis of the Land; to teach them the ways of the bush that had sustained them through hundreds of generations, the immutable, sacred Law that Bula had laid down about the myriad plants and animals, their life cycles, how they interact, how to conduct the source and increase ceremonies to manage them so they thrived, the seasonal changes and fluctuations of water flows and how to integrate their totemic and kinship structures into all of that natural world. His formidable telluric presence has been diffusing through the water and stones, through the cells of plants, through the bodies of all that lived upon him, since the time of creation.

The mountain is the 'capital' of the Worimi nation, the great hub of their homelands [[ii]] where songlines converge from the four directions. At this power site, senior men and women of the tribe tap into his primordial substance and bring it forth into the present in acts of perpetual re-creation. The all-powerful resident of the mountain warned his people [[iii]] never to disturb him, that doing so may cause sickness or natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes.

Then along came the RTA.

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Minister,

I have begun this representation with a short discourse on the legend of Bula [[iv]], as I feel you need to understand the crucial and profound significance of this Great Being to the Worimi people. You may not personally give credence to Aboriginal 'myths'[[v]], even though your portfolio agenda requires you to consider weighty Indigenous issues, but a former Labor prime minister certainly respected the Jawoyn peoples’ right to preserve this great Ancestral Being. Against overwhelming opposition, Bob Hawke risked his priministership by protecting from mining another Bula site, Bula Dima aka Coronation Hill and surrounds, which shares a virtually identical topography, history and apocalyptic mythology as Bula Dilla[[vi]] stating:

Because I had a firm belief that one has to respect the beliefs of the people directly concerned, and this was Jawoyn people. I found almost nauseatingly hypocritical the attitude of many of my colleagues, the cabinet who sneered at this snake in the ground, this sacred serpent Bula. (They’re still sneering Bob) I said, you amaze me; you have no problems in accepting the virgin birth, holy trinity, resurrection ... that’s easy - but to think these people are idiots, not to be respected; I won’t buy that. Its not so much the environmental argument as such that moved me, it was a question of the express beliefs of the Jawoyn people - they were religious beliefs, and while I can’t comprehend them, I didn’t think we have any rights to just treat them with contempt.[[vii]]

Mr. Burke, isn’t it about time your government stopped treating Aboriginal religious beliefs with contempt, such as you have displayed in allowing the desecration of this and so many other sacred sites?[[viii]] Isn't it time you recognised and acknowledged Aboriginal people’s right to restore their cultures that our civilisation has virtually annihilated, and accord them the value and respect which they so deserve?[[ix]]

Controlled explosions occurred on the mountain’s mid-slopes on Monday, January 24^th 2011 from 1pm.[[x]] Your government has not yet explained why Worimi Dates’ comprehensive s.10 application to protect the mountain (presented to the minister on dvd due to the secret/sacred information it contained) was dismissed by Minister Garrett as irrelevant and his application rejected. Why, after being presented with overwhelming evidence from many other sources that the entire mountain was hugely significant with multiple sacred sites, Minister Garrett falsely stated that it was ‘only the top’ that was significant? And although being satisfied that the top did qualify as a sacred place, he falsely stated that the By-pass would not adversely affect it, and refused to protect even that small area.[[xi]] You have not yet explained why Dr Collett took 16 months to process Cynthia Dungay Dates’ urgent application to protect the mountain, and why so much severe damage was allowed on the mountain during that time.[xii][xii] Please now explain why you are allowing more and more devastation to occur on this hallowed ground when the submission to protect the mountain is so close to going through to its final phase. How long will it take you to make the decision, Mr Burke? Is there a time limit on these things? Will it sit on your desk for another 16 months while the blasting continues, and the mountain is so utterly desecrated it no longer qualifies as worthy of protection? This unnecessary destruction of a place of such profound significance to Aboriginal people, and indeed to the entire world, qualifies for referral to the United Nations and I am currently expediting this.[[xiii]]

It is truly unbelievable that this entirely avoidable destruction has been allowed to happen in the first place - it will be unthinkable if it is allowed to continue to completion with the entire mountain's physical/spiritual qualities completely ruined, along with the future of the eco-cultural tourism industry of the town, the sacred mountain and its renowned Alum Mountain Park being its principal asset – all for no reason or need! And it is a serious indictment on the Prime Minister & Federal Heritage Minister, the NSW Premier and Ministers and Greens Senators who could have stopped this insanity at any time but refused to do anything, after being repeatedly petitioned by many people who are fighting this great wrong; I personally think you should all be included on the Wall of Shame.[[xiv]]

The cultural richness of this sacred precinct is obvious, even to someone not knowledgeable about Aboriginal culture,[[xv]] the evidence of this, incontrovertible. At the heart of the Worimi's attachment to and relationship with their homeland is a sincere and tenacious adherence to the belief in Bula and a corresponding reverence for the site at which Bula is said to reside in the ground, their Sacred Mountain 'Bula Dilla', whose name they graciously gave to the town in the 1800's. The overwhelming evidence presented here, by the Worimi people themselves[[xvi]] and by numerous others[[xvii]], makes it impossible for anyone to deny that there is a deeply significant association between The Worimi and their sacred mountain estate comprising numerous sites of on-going tradition. You are therefore obliged to Heritage list the site and protect it from any further damage. Your government will then be obliged to make reparations and restore the unique ecology that has been mindlessly destroyed.

Maureen Brannan 905 Wilsons Road CLOYNA Qld 4605 ph: 0427710523 email: mbrannan8@bigpond.com

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REPRESENTATION TO MINISTER TONY BURKE RE THE PROTECTION OF THE SACRED ALUM MOUNTAIN

In order to remain relevant to the issues in question, I have structured this part of my Representation as responses (in italics in parenthesis) to the specific points you made that you will be obliged to consider in relation to the area identified for protection before deciding whether to make a declaration under section 10 of the ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER HERITAGE PROTECTION ACT 1984, supported by appendices.

Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER HERITAGE PROTECTION ACT 1984

NOTICE OF AN APPLICATION FOR PROTECTION OF ALUM MOUNTAIN, BULAHDELAH, NEW SOUTH WALES (NSW) - INVITATION TO MAKE REPRESENTATIONS

I, Ms Madeline Brennan, hereby give notice as follows:

The Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, the Hon Tony Burke MP, responsible for the administration of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (the Act), has received an application

The applicant: The application was lodged by Estelle Carrall on behalf of Ms Cynthia Dungay Dates on 27 August 2009. [Reference vii applies as to why it took so long to go to this stage. I’d also like to know why your department refused to place the advertisement for submissions in national Indigenous newspapers as requested by the applicant’s lawyer, choosing to place it in one local Newcastle paper only, and why you refused to provide the name of the barrister making the report.]

The area sought to be protected: The applicant describes the area in need of protection as 'Bulahdelah Mountain and a contact and encampment site'. The area is identified on the map.

(Map attached shows that the extent of 'Specified Area' takes in the entire mountain, foothills and environs with boundaries along Sams Road to the east, Bombah Point Road to the south, the river & its riparian zones and town boundary roads to the west and a line drawn from the pacific highway one kilometre north of the town to Sams Road as the northern boundary. NB: The Option E route falls well within the protection zone. Option A or combination of A and B on the other hand, fall well outside of the protection zone – refer maps on pages 5 & 6)

Claimed nature of significance: The applicant states that Bulahdelah Mountain "...is a sleeping giant, a place of Tradition therefore a highly significant Aboriginal area of immeasurable cultural and spiritual significance to people of the past and present." She also states that "it contains numerous significant Aboriginal objects, archaeological sites, sacred sites, plants and animals that are an important part of Aboriginal culture and tradition" including:

* sacred frog rock [xviii][xviii]

* sacred lizard rock

* scarred trees

* guardian tree and other sacred trees[xix][xix]

* burial trees

* ceremonial ring

* ochre ground

* healing stream[xx][xx]

* plants used in traditional ways for foods, medicines, customs and in ceremonies[xxi][xxi]

* sacred rocks

* sacred stones

* animals which are an important part of tradition,[xxii][xxii] and

* artefacts and artefact scatter sites.[xxiii][xxiii]

The applicant states that the sites are still places that people have a spiritual connection to and are still places where people of the past walked, and carried out traditions and these sites are still places that are important to Aboriginal culture and traditions today. [Missing sentence – Since the application was first made in Aug 2009, many of the above important icons and sites have been destroyed by the RTA. A statement explaining this was meant to be included in the public notice; however only part of that statement was released. After the bulleted list of sites end, it should have read:

Although some of the sites listed in this application including artefact scatter, scarred trees, and the Guardian Tree (and the Healing Stream) have been destroyed by RTA the places where these sites were, are still of significance. These sites are still places that people have a spiritual connection to. These sites are still places where people of the past walked and carried out traditions and these sites are still places that are important to Aboriginal culture and tradition today.

i.e. even though these icons have been destroyed or removed, the sites where they were extant are still sacred and must still be protected – as Worimi puts it, the roots and seeds will grow again….]

The applicant also notes that there is a contact and encampment site on the southern side of the river that 'is important because it's a documented place where Aboriginal people were camping and living in a traditional way of life even after white settlement. It's a link to the past and the way things were, it is a highly significant place that Aboriginal people have a cultural connection to.'[xxiv][xxiv]

Claimed threat of injury or desecration: The applicant states that the area specified and all of the sites identified above are under threat of injury and desecration by the construction of the

Pacific Highway

upgrade - Bulahdelah - Option E by the RTA. This includes the relocation of powerlines and construction of an access track.

The Minister will consider a report under section 10 of the Act in relation to the area identified for protection before deciding whether to make a declaration under section 10 of the Act. The report will deal with:

(a) the particular significance of the area to Aboriginals (sic – The correct term is either Aborigines or Aboriginal people); [It is the Worimi nation's capital, the central hub of their homeland[xxv][xxv] upon which the migration routes from all directions converge, the place where their main Ancestor Creator Being, Bula, eternally sleeps, THE most important site in their culture, i.e. it could not possibly be MORE significant to ‘Aboriginals’! [xxvi][xxvi]]

(b) the nature and extent of the threat of injury to, or desecration of, the area; [A 4-lane highway to be widened to 6 lanes poses a severe threat of injury and desecration to the mountain cultural estate and to the future eco and Aboriginal cultural tourism of the town and district - it will destroy COMPLETELY the integrity of the entire sacred landscape.]

(c) the extent of the area that should be protected; [Cynthia Dates’ application calls for just the footprint of the mountain and another site by the river to be protected, but according to a Griffith University Review,[xxvii][xxvii] the protected area should include the mountain in its entirety, its ‘sphere of influence’ all around it, and the migration route corridors that converge on it - John Blay is pioneering such protection of migratory routes/ songlines.[xxviii][xxviii]]

(d) the prohibitions and restrictions to be made with respect to the area; [Not to blast 200,000cu meters of extremely dangerous silica-bearing rock[xxix][xxix] through an existing landslide in the midslopes of Bula’s unstable mountain and build a 6 lane highway. In fact, NO DISTURBANCE WHATSOEVER OF THE HALLOWED GROUND AND ALL THAT EXISTS UPON IT.]

(e) the effects the making of a declaration may have on the propriety or pecuniary interests of persons other than the Aboriginal or Aboriginals (sic) on whose behalf the application is made; [Not yet fully known but refer to p) Perpetrators with Pecuniary/Conflict of Interest as a starting point to discover more about who benefitted financially from changing the route from Option A, as it was originally intended, to Option E – these are the people who may be negatively affected if the route is change back to Option A[xxx][xxx]]

(f) the duration of any declaration; (FOR ALL TIME) and

(g) the extent to which the areas are 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. [Protected to the fullest extent of the law, naturally - hopefully legal remedies will be available to rehabilitate the area of desecration]

Invitation to make representations

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

Ms Madeline Brennan

Roma Mitchell Chambers, Level 12 Quay Central, 95 North Quay BRISBANE QLD 4000

Telephone: 07 3236 0000

Fax: 07 3236 3949

Representations must be made in writing by close of business on Friday 28 January 2011. [Hard copy of this Representation was delivered in person at 1pm Friday 28^th January, 2011 to the above office. A receipt was requested, and I was given Madeline Brennan’s business card by the receptionist – I pointed out that this was not a receipt and asked her to write on the back, which she did as I dictated: recieved (sic) Representation for Application to protect the Alum Mountain, dated 28/1/11 and signed by the receptionist. Hard Copy to the Prime Minister & Leader of the Opposition, the NSW Premier and Leader of the Opposition, Federal Heritage Minister, Federal Heritage Shadow Minister, Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister, Federal Indigenous Affairs Shadow Minister and various UN agencies was posted 2^nd February 2011 registered top-priority person-to-person mail to be signed for as a receipt. NB-There’s no point ignoring this – there are now a great many people committed to stopping this insanity. I for one am writing articles for various news outlets and the script for an SBS documentary.]

To satisfy legal requirements of procedural fairness your representation may be made available to other persons with a particular interest in the outcome of the application. Persons who wish to claim confidentiality for any part of their representation should discuss this matter with me directly. All representations will be attached to the report and provided to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities along with my report. [The Worimi may well require that certain sacred information is kept secret, but for my part, I want the whole world to know about this sorry saga, especially the UN Agencies who will receive copies of this together with an unofficial application to list the Sacred Alum Mountain as World Heritage]

You should not send your representation to the Minister. [...but I will anyway, as there have been serious concerns that vital information has been withheld from the minister at the Barrister’s report stage, possibly illegally, which may have resulted in the minister not being able to make a fully informed judgment. Copies will also be sent to all the people involved in this deplorable willful vandalism of a place of priceless cultural, social and environmental value to the Traditional Owners, to all Australians and to the entire world]

Ms Madeline Brennan

“The approved route was selected based on a number of factors. It represents the best possible balance across a range of competing needs.” The one and only justification that anyone in the NSW government has ever given for destroying the Sacred Alum Mountain and the town of Bulahdelah

“We did look at going to the west of the town, what’s often referred to as Route A, and also there was a variation of Route A, but in terms of that, that had its own problems in terms of it was still going through environmentally significant areas. There was significant Aboriginal issues to the west and they were raised with us.” Bob Higgins, General Manager, Pacific Highway - from Radio National 360 Documentary - "By-passing Bulahdelah" NB: There are NO environmentally significant areas along the Option A route - it comprises already cleared farmland and open plains - and there are NO significant Aboriginal issues - this statement is demonstrably false.

“Option A would have no direct or potential indirect impacts on any listed Indigenous heritage item.” PPK/RTA report

Pacific Highway

, Bulahdelah Upgrade – Route Options, Heritage Report

I’m trying to protect the mountain - I’m trying to protect our No.1 tourism asset, an area that has 89 species of native orchid. I’m trying to protect the mining history and heritage; I’m trying to help the Aboriginal people protect their history and their heritage. I just don’t understand why the RTA would chose an option that is going to destroy all of that when there were other options available. It’s the most polluting, it’s the most dangerous and it’s the most destructive.” Malcolm Carrall

“So you take all of the orchids, the other plants, your animals, the heritage values and you say WOW - wouldn’t it be easier NOT to take all this on and go somewhere else? And then you’d have to ask the question: Are there legitimate alternatives to where you go, or is this the only place you can go. Option A was still seen as a very viable option which was straight to the west of town, and I guess we’ve got involved as a society to say, if you gave us a choice, we would say: DON’T GO THERE." Kevin Carter, Historical Society

[i][i] Worimi culture custodians [equivalent status in western society would be an environmental engineer] may very well be the first Aboriginal people in 200 years to officially be laid to rest at a sacred site, legally and according to tribal Law, if a petition to resume this ceremony for lawful custodians is accepted and successful. More information on this particular practice of performing ‘last rites’ and the subsequent migration of the soul can be found in ‘Yorro Yorro’ by Mowaljarlai

[ii][ii] Based on the areas which are currently generally understood to be in or border Worimi land of that time, Boolah Dillah would have been in the approximate centre of Worimi country. Or, as stated by Mrs. Bev Manton, N.S.W. Aboriginal Land Council chairperson, “Smack-bang in the middle of Worimi territory,” (ref: Great Lakes Advocate 29th October, 2008).

[iii][iii] From Wisdom from the Earth - The Living Legacy of the Aboriginal Dreamtime, by Anna Voigt and Neville Drury - SACRED SITES - For all tribal Aborigines, the most potent sites of power are those sacred locations where Spirit Ancestors either burst through into the landscape during the Dreamtime, or withdrew from it to a state of eternal vigilance. (This is the nature of Bula Dilla) These sites are the places with djang, malagi or wunggud - and other names, depending on the language group (or culture - a British Pagan might call this numinous presence genius loci, literally ‘spirit of place’) As Bill Neidjie says of djang: ‘That secret place … Dreaming there … Because that djang we sitting on under, ‘e watching that djang. If you touch it you might get heavy cyclone, heavy rain, flood, or ‘e might kill some other place, other country .. ‘e might kill ‘im.”

These sacred sites are ‘strong’ because they have been sanctified energetically by the Spirit Ancestors. As well as providing Earth energy to all living species, they are also the locations of spirit children, and the importance of these sites is symbolically reaffirmed by ceremonial and ritual activities at these sacred places.

However, even though the Spirit ancestors withdrew from their specific roles in the Creation process and were hidden from view, they were still alive, conscious and powerful. In Aboriginal spiritual tradition, the force of the Spirit Ancestors resides at the location of their resting place, and this spiritual power can be tapped through ritual by those who understand how to use this power. These sacred sites are consecrated ground and thus have profound significance for Aboriginal people.

David Mowaljarlai, Ngarinwin Law man, has said: “Disturbing sacred sites and land is agony for our people. Land and mountains and spring water - the heart of sacred sites - is really our body. Graders, bulldozers are pressing down on our body, liver, kidney bleeding. The spirit of the landowners is sickened. Graders are scraping the skin off our flesh - a sore that will not heal up - in my language, wilu, killing us.” A number of elders are reported to have died as a result of the destruction of their sacred sites - which affected not only their vitality but also their ability to carry out their sacred custodial responsibilities. David Mowljarlai’s comments are echoed in the words of Yolngu Man, Mandawuy Yunupingu - Yothu Yindi bandleader and Australian of the Year in 1993 - describing the saddest day of his life when, as a young boy, he stood alongside his weeping father and watched in horror as a rock sacred to their beliefs was blasted apart: “The mining company came with dynamite and bulldozers - the whole works. They just came and cleared everything and we couldn’t stop them…” One particular rock in that area of north-east Arnhem Land stood for the symbol of the dingo: “It was significant to our beliefs but they just went ahead and destroyed it. It saddened my father’s heart and he cried for it. I was saddened too when I saw my father crying … this was the land where I used to go together with my mother to collect yams, wild honey and fruit. Now it was all gone.” Renowned Ngarinyin elder Daisy Utemorrah also talked about the appalling devastation and insensitivity of multinational mining companies where there were sacred sites of deep significance to her people. With a few mindless acts motivated by almost unimaginable greed (or in the instance of Bulahdelah Bypass, by almost unimaginable ignorance and disrespect), and within a few years, millennia of profound spiritual legacy is destroyed for all future generations.

During the Dreamtime, beings in the form of humans, animals and plants brought the landscape to life by putting themselves into the country. They travelled the land above and below the ground, giving names to places and specifying dangerous areas and sites to avoid. They gave the country its language and in doing so designated which people would belong to it. In travelling on to neighbouring countries they established relationships across language group boundaries with some far away people. “All things in the landscape were left by the Creation Ancestors. They left ceremonies, rules to live by, laws, plants, animals and people, then they turned into djang (Dreaming places). They taught Aboriginal people how to live with the land. From then on Aboriginal people became keepers of their country. “ sourced from the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre [custodians of Buladima] website.

Bula is an Ancestor Creator tradition found in a number of tribal cultures throughout Australia, in the same way that the Rainbow Serpent tradition is - a universal deity who manifests as a lizard. (Worimi gave evidence re this) I am currently conducting further research into other sites that may possibly be where Bula resides, including: Mount Buller, Vic ; Mumbulla Mountain, NSW (currently being logged) ; Boolambayte, NSW (very close to Bulahdelah – maybe a ‘son’?) ; Boola Boolka - also nearby a network of lakes (the Menindee Lakes on the Darling River) as Bula Dilla is to the Myall Lakes, ; Boolardy, WA ; Boola-roo, NSW ; Boola-rra, Vic ; Booleroo, SA ; Bullecourt, Q ; Bulla Bulla, NSW ; Bulla, Vic (right next to Melbourne airport) ; Bulla-bulling , WA ; Bulla-mon Plains, Q ; near to…Bulla-warrie, Q ; Bulla-ra, WA ; Bullard-doo, WA ; Bullar-green, NSW ; Bulla-ring, WA ; Bullar-to, Vic Moola Bulla station, WA near the Bungle Bungle ranges next to Halls Creek and the wall of shiny white quartz that runs up a hill known as the China Wall where predominately Chinese people mined gold.

Bula sites are all linked to each other underground, interconnected by flows of energy which are described by one custodian as analogous to telegraph lines. In effect, all Bula sites are one, and all the places where Bula is said to reside in the ground can be viewed as one, continentally significant site. Another analogy may be the multiple fruiting bodies of one mushroom plant, all linked underground by a network of mycelium.

[iv][iv] My interpretation of this Ancestral Being comes from 35 years of research into Aboriginal cultures, and recent intensive studies at Southern Cross University where I am undertaking a Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous Affairs – I achieve a high distinction average. I have been helped in my understanding of the physical and metaphysical aspects of their cultures, in particular sacred sites, by many Aboriginal individuals over the years, including my own dear friend Moollookatt, aka Thomas Arthur Duncan, Wakka Wakka custodian of the sacred spring waterhole on a property I once held the deeds to. I am a lobbyist on behalf of the natural environment and Indigenous peoples and involved in many projects to raise awareness of associated problems and solutions. I work every minute of the day that I am able, including evenings. As the state of our beleaguered planet deteriorates, as more and more animals and entire ecosystems spiral into extinction, the harder I am driven to try and do everything within my power to stop the avoidable destruction of the natural world, focusing mainly on rainforests, predominately in SE Asia where clearing continues unabated and megadams threaten last intact remnants. The tragedy is that so few people care, and doubly so as it is only those who do care who suffer and grieve with every news report of ecological deterioration. We are all only on Earth for a short while and each of us must do whatever we are able to address the effects of the inevitable warming of the planet and the sixth great extinction that is already upon us, much of which is due to land clearing and is entirely avoidable. The destruction of this sacred site and rare biodiversity hotspot is just that… completely unnecessary and entirely avoidable.

[v][v] THE ORIGIN OF THE NARRAN LAKES is one example of a Dreamtime story that conveys a vast amount of information about the rivers and underground water systems of the Narran Lakes region; how above- and below-ground water flows are connected, what happens in a flood or drought situation, where to find certain bush tucker … all being transmitted in one easy to remember story, so that no Aboriginal child with that knowledge will ever be lost in their country or be in need of water and sustenance. All Dreamtime ‘myths & legends’ are replete with meaning – life-cycles of flora and fauna, seasonal water flows and cautionary tales for living harmoniously, passed down unchanged through hundreds of generations through the spoken word and iconography, each symbol encompassing an entire concept.

YOUR GOVERNMENT’S OWN WEBSITE STATES: Land at the core of belief. Land is fundamental to the wellbeing of Aboriginal people. The land is not just soil or rocks or minerals, but a whole environment that sustains and is sustained by people and culture. For Indigenous Australians, the land is the core of all spirituality and this relationship and the spirit of ‘country’ is central to the issues that are important to indigenous people today.

Source: http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/indigrnous/

[vi][vi] No ordinary piece of bush: the high price of Coronation Hill

Radio National Hindsight, 4^th April, 2010

“If Bula is disturbed at any of these sites by major earthworks, this will unleash widespread natural disasters, which will cause great damage. This belief was the primary factor in the decision of the Australian Government not to allow mining to proceed at Buladima.”

Coronation Hill is a site sacred to the Jawoyn people, who believe it to be the resting place of the Creator Being, Bula. Some of the sites around Coronation Hill are so fragile, not even a rock could be disturbed without cataclysmic consequences. Their critics said this was a total invention, and their critics were many; the mining industry, the media, anthropologists, even Hawke’s cabinet.

The Jawoyn call Coronation Hill Guratba and it’s a part of a network of sacred sites which make up the story of Bula Dima, or Bula. Three old men were custodians of the country and they were the only ones to know the full extent of the Bula story. All of them have since died, but here one of them, whose name we cannot say, describes the importance of the area:

“I don’t think white people understand this rule, but we understand their rules, whiteman rules. But for our rules - they reckon we might be a bit myall or something like that. We’re not myall because we hold ceremony for blackfella site and we understand for European side. We understand the law they have - we’re not to go on their property - we understand that. But this is olden time, from a long time ago before whiteman came. Bulla Dima been there all the time. We didn’t know but when we were growing up we understood a little bit of what our fathers told us - we understand more now we’ve properly grown up. We know his story. We know not to do damage, but whitefellas make a hole and they say that’s bullshit - that’s not bullshit! We’re telling the truth! We tell them true God in Heaven - he might not believe in that God but that’s the whiteman’s law. I was going to the mission school but when the war came - bang - I went to work with my dad - he took me mining - wolfram, tin, gold - my father knew there was gold at Guratba. He said, Don’t take any whitemen there. That’s the Law, he said, on Bulla Dima’s side. He’ll wake, shake the ground - we will die. He’ll burn the trees, he’ll burn the cities - we will be gone - we won’t be able to stop it, no hope, nobody can stop it. Even Bulla Dima might be able to stop some things, but not this one. It will go on for ever - he will take us all - you will never see the country again - finish.”

One of the senior custodians of Guratba, Coronation Hill, speaking in 1986.

Significantly, the Bulla story was shared with neighbouring Aboriginal nations, and they were very concerned about the Jawoyn’s ability to protect the site as well.

It was very stressful because they kept telling their stories about Coronation Hill, about Bulla, Bulla-Dima, that it was sacred, that there was illness in that country before, in the sickness country, there will be further illnesses, there will be an apocalypse - they were very hurt by people not wanting to listen to their side of the story and it was very stressful for them because you had government advisers who they knew were trying to pull them away from their position. They got knocked from pillar to post, (Just like the Worimi have been … this is overtly racist behavior and should be challenged in court – it should have been purged from government years ago) but they stood firm eventually and became strong as their fight grew.

Big Sunday is the major Bula site which is connected to Guratba, and other sites within the Sickness Country. The Jawoyn believe that Bula, the creator, rests and is lying dormant under the Sickness Country and is sort of wired up to these sites, so that if one site is destroyed then it has a chain reaction that will destroy the other sites within the Sickness Country.

There are many Aboriginal people in the surrounding areas, throughout Arnhem Land, who have ceremonial connections with Bula, and it's very important that the Jawoyn people protect Bula and ensure that Bula is not disturbed and therefore there is no mining in that part of the Sickness Country whatsoever, because it is so integral to the living culture of the Jawoyn Aboriginal people.

-Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre.

http://www.environment.gov.au/parks/kakadu/culture-history/culture/creation-time.html

[In a way its fortuitous Coronation Hill came under threat of mining, or maybe all this esoteric knowledge would never have seen the light of a Western day.]

4.13 The Bula tradition.

4.13.1 Central to the issue of affiliation of the claimants to sites on the land claimed, and to adjacent sites related to that land, is a dreaming known as Bula or Bulademo. In some respects, Bula resembles the concept of the Judaeo-Christian God. He is a creator. One depiction of a male Bula figure alongside a female figure in a rock painting was the subject of evidence from Sandy Barraway that they were the father and mother of everybody.

4.13.2 Bula is also apocalyptic. He, or his various emanations (sometimes referred to as his "sons") are believed to be under the ground at various sites. Those sites are said to be linked beneath the surface of the earth. The analogy used was telegraph wires. If Bula is disturbed at any of these sites by major earthworks, this will unleash widespread natural disasters, which will cause great damage. This belief was the primary factor in the decision of the Australian Government not to allow mining to proceed at Guratba (site 18) (Coronation Hill). Peter Jatbula gave evidence of experiencing an earthquake many years ago, when he was working on Eva Valley Station, south of the land claimed. He attributed the earthquake to mining activity at that time. Janet Cubillo recalled a time in the 1940's, when she was living in Pine Creek with her brother, Bobby Markham, and their mother and grandmother, Ngal-Betbut. There was an earth tremor during the night, which caused those in the house to run outside. She remembers her grandmother calling out in "language" and mentioning Bulademo. Janet's mother was predicting the end of the world. Janet was seven or eight years old at the time.

4.13.3 The most important site at which Bula lies in the ground is Nilanyjurrung (site W), a large flat-topped hill, overlooking the South Alligator River -and standing apart from the escarpment, which lies to the west. A hole on the top of the mountain, through which Bula entered his subterranean resting place, has traditionally been covered with paperbark, carried to the top of the mountain for the purpose, and-weighted with rocks to keep it in place. The covering at the present time is corrugated iron, with rocks to keep it in place. There are restrictions on hunting and taking food in the immediate neighbourhood of Nilanyjurrung. There were differences between some of the senior claimants in their evidence as to the extent of the restrictions. The senior Wurrkbarbar claimants regarded the restrictions as covering a broader area than did some senior members of the wider Jawoyn language group.

4.13.4 The other sites at which Bula is said to rest in the ground are in various directions from Nilanyjurrung (site W). They are Jarrangbarnmi (site 21), above Koolpin Gorge, Martbaluk (site Q) to the north-east, Dumbortluk (site H), in the escarpment near Guratba (site 18), Ngartluk (site T), not far from the old mine at Sleisbeck and Gatjam (site J), near the southern boundary of the land claimed, south of Birdie Creek and east of its junction with the Katherine River. Some of these sites are particularly rich in rock art, as well as having bone arrangements and, in some cases, other features associated with Bula. One such feature is a cleared, stone bordered pathway, along which Bula is said to have crawled. I was taken to one of these pathways and told of the existence of another. They were used in the performance of male ceremonies, in a way about which I was given detailed evidence of a kind which should be revealed only to men. At Martbaluk there is a large hole in the top of a rocky ridge, the entrance to which has been blocked by falling boulders. It is that hole which is said to have been Bula's access to his underground resting place. The boulders are necessary in order to prevent his re-emergence and the consequent widespread destruction.

4.13.5 As well as the sites at which Bula lies in the ground, there are numerous sites on and near the land claimed which Bula visited and at some of which he performed specified acts. In the north west of the claim area are Galawurerrk (site 11), at which Bula attempted to go into the mountain and at which there are paintings and bone arrangements, Bornluk (site 8), which is another art site around which Bula hunted, Nibambarr'mi (site U), another art site to the east of Bornluk across the South Alligator River., Niwurritj (site X), a major rock art shelter in which Peter Jatbula said one of Bula's "sons" lies, Bulpul (site 9), an area around a large conical hill near the South Alligator River, through which Bula travelled, and Guratba (site 18) (Coronation Hill). In the north-east of the claim area is Bekluk (site 3), an important art complex with bone arrangements associated with young men's rites. In the south, a large area partly within and partly outside the claim area around its south east corner is called Gupuluk (site K). According to the evidence of Peter Jatbula, this may also be a place at which one of Bula's "sons" is to be found. Outside the eastern boundary of the claim area is Ngarratjluk (site S), another major art site.

4.13.6 There has been considerable controversy in recent years as to whether Guratba (site 18), which was the site of some mining during the 1950's and of more recent exploration works, including "bench widening" or terracing, and which is part of the area at which Newcrest seeks to conduct further mining, is of significance to Aboriginal people at all. The evidence satisfies me that it is a site associated with the travelling and hunting of Bula, some of whose blood is believed by some of the claimants to have been left in the hill. The word guratba in the Jawoyn language means rope or string; the story associated with Bula's visit to Guratba involves him making rope or string from paperbark, in order to secure a stone spear tip to his spear.

Belittling of culture disguised as debate

Jawoyn answer to 'myth making'

Sat, 10 Jul 1999 14:26:53 -0700 The Sydney Morning Herald [Print Edition]

by Robert Lee

RELIGION and politics, a whitefella once told me, are not the subjects of polite conversation. So why is Aboriginal religion such a regular punching bag for commentators? Is it mere impoliteness, or is something else at stake? Why do my people, the Jawoyn of the Northern Territory, continually have to defend our beliefs against academic "experts” because of our successful campaign to stop mining on our traditional land at Guratba, which you know better as Coronation Hill. Why do we have to fend off accusations of “lies” from people who know nothing about our country and its men and women? We Aboriginal people don’t need outside experts to validate our faith; we don't need them to speak on our behalf to confirm the reality of our beliefs, nor to act as gatekeepers of our ritual knowledge. Yet the attacks continue, although it is almost a decade since the Hawke Government recognised

Coronation Hill’s spiritual significance to the Jawoyn people and decided mining should not proceed. The narrow and sectarian views of so-called "dissident” anthropologists – such as the Institute of Public Affairs' Ron Brunton, quoted on these pages last Saturday – are trotted out to “prove” the Jawoyn, aided and abetted by partisan and politically motivated anthropologists, invented the ancestral spirit Bula at Guratba. It is a pity no-one spoke to the Jawoyn – I wonder who is doing the mythmaking? Jawoyn success in protecting the “sickness country” around Coronation Hill was not based on fabrication, as implied by Mr Brunton. It was based on profoundly held views by Jawoyn and other Aboriginal lawmen of the region. The fact that anthropological evidence concerning the Guratba site was not identified until the 1970s merely reflects the fact that there were simply no anthropologists around until then. Does Mr Brunton seriously suggest that the ancestral spirits of my people exist only if affirmed by an external “expert”, a white-fella anthropologist? As it happens, though, a great number of independent "experts” were consulted on the issue of Guratba, some with many years’ experience in the region. None denied the genuineness of the religious belief of the custodians of Guratba, nor claimed we “invented” Bula for financial gain, as has been implied. One of the great unwritten parts of the story of the battle for Guratba was the rejection by senior Jawoyn of cash and other inducements to change their minds. Mr Brunton’s 10,000-word critique of the inquiry into the claim about the “sickness country” near the proposed mine site was an armchair effort. He has never done anthropological fieldwork within cooee of Jawoyn traditional lands. Most offensive is Mr Brunton’s claim that our traditional beliefs and culture allow us to “construct whole incentives around victim-hood” and prevent us from “pulling out of disadvantage”. It is our cultural strength that allows the Jawoyn - despite the Guratba experience - to engage positively with the mining industry to the point where we hold equity in exploration on our traditional lands and are represented on the NT Minerals Council executive. This in turn reflects the level of respect within the industry for our beliefs. We do not need distant theoreticians to improve ourselves. Nor do we need our religious beliefs sneered at and belittled in the guise of academic debates about anthropologists. We reject the paternalist notion that we are doomed to be manipulated by experts. Some anthropologists we agree with, some we do not. We have never instructed them to come up with particular answers. We do not always agree with the anthropologists we employ, just as we may disagree with other advisers, the lawyers, scientists, and economists we use to move towards our goal of economic and social independence. We consider their advice, and then make our own determinations. And that’s no myth.

Robert Lee is executive director of the Jawoyn Association, Katherine, Northern Territory.

mar1995p10_848.html

[viii][viii] The Burrup Peninsula, Lake Cowal and another by-pass in Tasmania spring to mind, all of which are examples of government desecrating Aboriginal heritage, but the worst federal wipe-out of cultural sites, comprising unique ecosystems and priceless heritage, occurred in 2005 when the Paradise Dam was built in Australia’s most primeval National Park – 45 kms of the last free-flowing stretches of ‘Murullbakgera’, river of the breathing fish that had been flowing since Gondwana, comprising, six kilometers of rocky-bed rapids that oxygenated numerous source and increase sites for the turtle and lungfish downstream, the crossing place of the Rainbow Serpent Songline, the major migration route to the Bunya lands, unique ancient zamia palm groves, caves and a wailing wall for women in the gorge and the tangled vine banks of the Goodnight Scrub National Park’s major creek, habitat for the once thought extinct Coxen’s double-eyed fig parrot that had been recently sighted there on two occasions …. all inundated, illegally in respect to Bowden Creek as it had not been excised from its NP status… all for a megadam that nobody wanted or needed, but inexplicably pushed through state and federal parliament by essentially one man – Premier Peter Beattie, who stated that a political promise overrides every other consideration. This unnecessary destruction of a globally unique stretch of river is the subject of an on-going campaign to de-commission the dam.

Aboriginal elders join koala protest
Friday, 16 April 2010 11:42:01 AM
Local Aboriginal elders have joined the call for Premier Kristina Keneally to halt logging near a koala colony on the NSW south coast. More than 100 protesters, led by three Aboriginal elders, marched on Mumbulla State Forest near Bega on Wednesday in a bid to stop the logging by Forests NSW. The elders, who did not wish to be named, said the land should be handed over to them as they are the traditional owners. "We the traditional owners of Mumbulla Mountain are distressed that woodchip logging is taking place on part of our sacred land," they said in a statement. "The land should be handed over to us to care for it, our sacred sites and the animals that live here. "We need to preserve it for our culture and our future generations." Jane Salmon of the South East Region Conservation Alliance (SERCA) said the protest was peaceful, but failed to disrupt the tree felling, which continued throughout the day. "Once more we are calling for the premier to step in and put an end to this," Ms Salmon said. "We will be back again tomorrow and every day until we can put an end to the logging." The protest is one of several stand-offs activists have engaged in since logging began in the Mumbulla and Murrah State Forests last month. Conservationists say the work will destroy koala habitats and lead to the extinction of a colony of 30 to 50 koalas. The NSW government, which signed off on the logging, denies any koalas are at risk, saying the felling is in areas away from the koalas' range. - AAP

[ix][ix] ----- Original Message -----

From: maureen brannan

To: VIC Shadow Min Aboriginal Affairs ; VIC Leader of Opposition ; VIC Min Aboriginal Affairs ; VIC Premier ; TAS Leader of Opposition ; TAS Min Aboriginal Affairs ; ACT Shadow Min Aboriginal Affairs ; SA Min Aboriginal Affairs & Reconciliation ; SA Premier ; SA Leader of Opposition ; NT Shadow Min Indigenous Development ; NT Chief Minister ; Qld Min Aboriginal Health ; Qld Shadow Min Aboriginal Affairs ; Qld Leader of Opposition ; Qld Premier ; Fed Leader of Opposition ; Fed Min for Indigenous Enterprise & Economic Development ; Fed Min Indigenous Affairs Minister ; VIC Min for Aboriginal Affairs ; Tas Premier David Bartlett ; Qld Indigenous Affairs Minister ; Qld gov-Indigenous Enterprise ; NT Min for Indigenous Policy ; NSW LOP Barry O'Farrell ; NSW Premier ; NSW Min for Aboriginal Affairs ; Fed Shadow Min Indigenous Affairs ; WA Premier ; WA Min Aboriginal Affairs ; WA Leader of Opposition ; WA Shadow Min Aboriginal Affairs ; NSW Min Community Services (Linda Burney) ; NSW Shadow Min Aboriginal Affairs Kevin Humphries

Cc: Indigenous Education Leadership Institute ; Koori Mail ; National Indigenous Human Rights Congress ; National Indigenous Times

Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2006 7:38 PM

Subject: Baby Slim shows the way

Dear Premiers and Indigenous Affairs Ministers,

The photo attached (from Megan Lewis' Conversations with the Mob) is of 'Baby Slim' who began intensely studying this termite mound while his parents patiently watched on after a day's hunting in red desert country - eventually he pulled out a lunki grub and promptly stuffed it in his mouth. I'm not sure if he'd previously observed people finding the grubs this way or he may have used his own observations ... either way it shows exceptional survival skills inherited from hundreds of generations of professional practitioners of sustainable land management. Can you imagine any non-Indigenous baby of this age# displaying such initiative, ingenuity, patience and observational powers? Yet his skills and talents would NOT BE VALUED in your Western educational system; his proficiency in his native language, which describes all the myriad plants and animals of his country, their life-cycles, their inter-connections, the seasonal changes, flows of water, how all that integrates into his totemic and kinship systems, millennia of history and so much more - NOT VALUED; his highly evolved culture, stretching back to humanity's very beginnings - NOT VALUED; its sophisticated and complex totemic and kinship systems that ensure each and every member of the clan is nurtured throughout their lives by multiple carers - NOT VALUED.

In another three years, this child may well begin his 'education' in a Western school, maybe already with a basic understanding of two or more different languages, knowing more about his natural environment than most of us will ever know, and be DENIGRATED by 'teaching professionals' because he can't spell 'cat'.* He has the human right and should have the opportunity to learn everything about his country, his language and his culture - a Western education can teach him nothing in that respect. Forcing Aboriginal children to adopt (ie: assimilate into) a Western industrialised lifestyle is akin to cultural genocide. In fact the only reason he should learn English, as far as I can see, is to educate non-Aboriginals about his world.

You all desperately need to get some humility, show due respect for the inherent triple-bottom-line value of Indigenous cultures, acknowledge your past profound ignorance and assist Baby Slim and his people to restore their cultures and lifestyles, without interference^ apart from facilitating access to modern technologies that might help them, such as renewable power, earthbuilding and aquaponic & hydroponic recycled water systems to complement meager food resources. Instead of closing down 'un-economic' remote communities, introducing a cultural maintenance payment for every Indigenous person who wishes to regain their inheritance and live on their homelands would be a good start.

Maureen Brannan, Cloyna Springs P/c farm & Nature Reserve, Lot 8 Althause Road, CLOYNA, Qld 4605 ph: 04 277 10523

# The stark polarity of our worlds is evident, considering most non-Aboriginal toddlers would need to be fully clothed from head to toe with a brimmed hat & shoes and be covered in a high factor sunscreen before venturing out into the desert sun - Baby Slim is perfectly adapted to his environment.

* Comment by a remote school teacher on ABC TV news

^ Taking decision-making powers away from government and restoring them to the people who are the only ones with the knowledge and wisdom to actually make those decisions, was the very wise advice of our secular saint, Fred Hollows.---------------------------------------------
From: "Maureen Brannan"
To: editor@koorimail.com ; news@nit.com.au
Subject: Open letter to Mal Brough
Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 05:05:39 +0000Open letter to Mal Brough

Senior legal opinion from the Greens has determined that the current intervention laws that you are pushing through your “rubber stamp” senate, are unconstitutional. I believe they would also be found to be discriminatory and illegal under International law.

“Message Stick” covered a story on the CDEP scheme last week, some positive experiences with it, providing fulfilling and culturally appropriate work in remote communities and townships where there are no regular jobs in the mainstream workforce to be found. My own research found many positive and exceptional outcomes from the scheme. It has worked well, so why is it being dismantled and the participants told to “find ‘real’ jobs”? If there is a problem with corruption in administering the scheme, surely it would be best to deal with that specific problem rather than dismantle the entire scheme. The same applies to the Permit System. Your justification for abolishing it - 'because it’s not working – alcohol and drugs are getting in anyway' is utterly ridiculous. These specific problems can also be fixed with targeted changes. So now it wont be just rivers of grog, it’ll be a tsunami of grog, drugs, petrol & pedophiles running through these communities. One would be excused in thinking that this is what the government intends. It is not just immoral and illogical; it is probably illegal to unnecessarily put these communities at so much more risk of harm.

Radio National’s Bush Telegraph recently covered a story about an Aboriginal woman who has been gathering bush tucker from the mangroves behind the Royal Darwin Hospital for the past 20 years (below) to help Indigenous patients recover. She collects 30-40 different bush foods - in one outing, she may collect 200 shells & 24 crabs along with whatever fruits and vegetables are in season, enough to feed the 50 patients she looks after.

Mr Brough, would this constitute a ‘real job’ in your view? How many white people do you think could do this job?

Real jobs would involve re-building their culture, making their people healthy and happy again and looking after the biodiversity of the land, as they have done so well for tens of thousands of years. Unfortunately Western agricultural practices have all but wiped out the natural bounty that had sustained them through millennia. Real jobs would involve working with environmentalists at a grass-roots level in the massive effort of land restoration and re-vegetation needed everywhere, and traditional Indigenous methods will help enormously in that endeavour.

If there’s one thing worse than child sex abuse, it would be a government who cynically uses that tragedy to implement an agenda that leads to cultural extinction.

Maureen Brannan, Murgon-------------------------------------------------
Bushtucker woman gathers for healthBy Alice Plate and Michael Mackenzie

Friday, 03/08/2007
Ever tried to get your daily food from mangroves? That's what Pat Gamanangga has been doing for the past 13 years. Darwin Royal Hospital's resident bushtucker expert loves to eat as much as she can and every Thursday she collects it for Aboriginal patients.
Pat collects enough food to feed about 60 patients and she's also working to preserving her knowledge. Pat has been teaching fellow health workers and young people from remote communities about bushtucker and how to collect it.
She collects periwinkles, yams, clams, mangrove worms and mud mussels from the mangroves near the Darwin hospital.
"It's good for diarrhoea, flu, fever, itchy throat. All this bushtucker is just normal to us and it's cheaper than in the supermarket."
"The Islanders they grew up with bushtucker and when they in hospital they looking for a special natural taste. Good for their tongue and curing their bodies. Good for diabetics and kidney problems. Patients see me and they feel free from the suffering pains.”

PS: While I was up-dating my government mailing list, I noticed: > There are parliamentary secretaries for every main portfolio except Indigenous Affairs - does this reflect the importance that governments place on Indigenous issues? > all the indigenous policy statements on govt websites appear to be assimilationist, none are encouraging Aboriginal people to regain their own cultures; > the title 'Aboriginal Development' sounds slightly racist and demeaning to me - don't you think Aborigines have developed enough after 60,000 years of successful habitation of this continent? > Aboriginal Reconciliation is a misnomer – there has never been conciliation with the usurpers of their lands, so they cannot be re-conciled.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

...and finally a piece of satire (satirical because despite often mouthing platitudes about being so proud of Australia having the longest continuing cultures in the world, you are in many instances actively destroying them and otherwise complicit in state governments doing the same):

A 'satirical' message from Julia Gillard to the Indigenous Peoples of Australia

In my government's new paradigm, we will stop telling you what to do and we will start asking you what you want and need to address your social problems to restore peace, health and harmony in your communities, as they were before Australian governments nearly destroyed your cultural structures entirely. We will listen carefully, and then we will facilitate whatever you say is required to achieve this, be it supplying remote communities with the latest renewable energy technologies, practical earth building programs or anything else at all to help with the reconstruction effort. There will be no more demeaning ‘welfare’ payments to Aboriginal people who wish to reclaim their inheritance and restore their cultures, contemporaneously or traditionally – there will now be unconditional funding of each and every person (including non-Indigenous) in any way involved in cultural restoration, in recognition that it would involve a comparatively small number of people and a correspondingly miniscule amount of government funds. If you wish to re-establish your inter-connected grid of Songlines and migration trails (mostly still existing within the stock route system which usurped them) that can easily be arranged by according them the same legal status as the stock routes, i.e. free access to walkers and riders - if its good enough for cattle, surely it is good enough for the nation's First People! If you want to prioritise teaching your children their own languages over English, that too can be arranged through school curricula. In fact, as long as you don't break any laws, you do whatever you need to do to keep the priceless legacy of humanity's longest continual scientific and metaphysical knowledge streams safe and enduring into the future. Needless to say, all your most precious and sacred cultural places will immediately come under legal protection, beginning with the Worimi's iconic Bula Dilla, currently under threat of complete desecration by unnecessary development. Keep in touch … and let me know if you would like me to sign a treaty to legitimise our pledge. I hope your new year really does bring a bran nue dae for your long-suffering peoples.

Maureen Brannan 905 Wilsons Road CLOYNA Qld 4605 ph: 04 277 10523 email: mbrannan8@bigpond.com (printed in a number of publications)

[x][x] Volume 3 of Bulahdelah Upgrading the Pacific Highway Environmental Impact Statement – Technical Paper 4 states: Page 7.20:- It is anticipated blasting of significant amounts of rock would be required in some cuttings in the central section of the proposal. North of Bombah Point Road, between Stations 96000 and 96400, blasting of approximately 150,000 cubic metres of hard sandstone is anticipated. Within cuttings at the northern interchange, between stations 98300 and 98700, blasting of approximately 50,000 cubic metres of rhyolite is anticipated. Page 7.20:- Excavated material from the large sandstone cutting north of

Bombah Point Road

, could be used for the select material zones beneath the pavement layers. Stockpiling, crushing or secondary blasting and preparation could be undertaken in addition to general earthworks to provide this material along the alignment.

The largest section of blasting would be carried out in an area ranging between approximately 100 metres to 600 metres from the Bulahdelah Central School, the largest central school in NSW. As this blasting would be carried out in hard sandstone, the: construction noise; blast overpressure; rock crushing; pile driving; dust (toxic volcanic rock dust!); and as yet unannounced evacuations because of the dangers of this blasting can only be described as calculated child abuse. This mass of abuses would continue for years. (Three, according to the EIS but more likely for much longer.) Deprivation of ‘learning time’ due to the above-mentioned construction activities and effects would also be of a minimum three years’ duration.

As to the blasting of 50,000 cubic metres of rhyolite at the Northern Interchange: Rhyolite has the highest silica content of all volcanic lava rock types. A single inhalation of silica-bearing rock dust can cause irreversible and progressive terminal lung disease. That workmen employed in areas where they are exposed to this type of rock dust are advised to remove all such dust from their persons, their clothing and their vehicles so that they do not contaminate their homes shows how extremely dangerous it is.

Option A, to the near west of Bulahdelah, has none of these hazards and abuses. Option A has been documented by the RTA as geotechnically easier and $millions cheaper. It is also in a corridor of more than ample width to allow for future widening.

‘Respirable silica dust may be invisible to the naked eye and is so light that it can remain airborne for a long time. It can thus travel long distances in the air and so affect populations not otherwise considered to be at risk’ – the World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs238/en/

* A GP living in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales [Dr. Tuan Au] says if health problems caused by pollution from open cut mining are ignored "it's the same as murder": http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/12/2869783.htm?site=qanda - this applies equally to the avoidable pollution from respirable silica dust.

----- Original Message -----

From: maureen brannan

To: Fed Heritage Min Tony Burke

Cc: Peter Garrett ; NSW Premier ; NSW LOP Barry O'Farrell ; National Indigenous Times ; Koori Mail ; Fed Min Indigenous Affairs Minister ; Fed Leader of Opposition ; Fed Heritage Dr David Collett

Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 12:22 PM

Subject: WAKING BULA - Urgent draft Submission to Minister Burke

Dear Minister,

Due to the urgency to stop any further blasting on the Sacred Alum Mountain, I am emailing you this representation, with copies to relevant politicians, to alert you to the atrocities that have been and are continuing to be perpetrated at this extremely important landmark - you are putting Australia's international reputation at serious risk of damage. Hardcopy will be delivered in person to the barrister who will (presumably) be making the report, Madeline Brennan.

[xi][xi] The ATSIHP Act states that an area or object shall be taken to be injured or desecrated if: In the case of an area, it is used or treated in a manner inconsistent with Aboriginal tradition; by reason of anything done in, on or near the area, the use or significance of the area in accordance with Aboriginal tradition is adversely affected; or passage through or over, or entry upon the area by any person occurs in a manner inconsistent with Aboriginal tradition; or, in the case of an object, it is used or treated in a manner inconsistent with Aboriginal tradition.

By this definition of the application of the Act, assessing the impact of the injury or desecration the site in question would sustain, Peter Garrett was clearly negligent in claiming that a 6-lane dual-carriage way carrying 20,000 cars, trucks and coaches a day, a super MacDonald’s, access roads, culverts, barriers, roundabouts and other infrastructures near the area he conceded was sacred ground and worthy of protection, would not adversely affect that area!

[xii][xii] Interview with Malcolm Carrall in Nimbin FM Radio 28.9.10 (with slide show of images of RTA earthworks)

Interviewer: Malcolm, you’ve rung up to talk about the Bulahdelah Bypass, so I want you to give me all the information so I can spread it out there on the FM airwaves.

Malcolm Carrall: I’ll just start by saying that its still only surface clearing work being done – no major cuttings, no blasting, nothing like that; so this Option can easily be changed at this stage. [It can be easily changed AT ANY STAGE – even if they blast the entire mid slopes of the mountain, as they intend, it will still be infinitely safer to re-route the road to Option A – there will just be far more rehabilitation work to undertake, and far more litigation due to them exposing thousands of people – including hundreds of school children - and animals to severe risk of terminal illness and severely impacting people and threatened and endangered ecology.....mb] But over 12 months ago, an application of a section 10 for protection of the Alum Mountain was sent in to the Federal Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts which is under the control of a Dr David Collett who receives these applications. Now, it is absolutely ridiculous for a section 10 to take this long. When you do a Section 9, 10 or 12 application, you don’t enter into it lightly – you’ve got to have valid reasons supported by valid facts, area maps etc…. and you’ve really got to prove that this land is significant and the reasons why. So the agent for the applicant has been trying hard over the past 12 months to get correspondence back from David Collett, by email, by telephone… and still the stalling game is going on. The agent actually got to speak to Dr Collett a couple of weeks ago and Dr Collett promised that the barrister who is going to do the reporting on this had been selected, but he refused to give the name of the barrister. [Was it Madeline Brennan?] He also promised that the draft of the Application Notice would be available from last week, and nothing’s happened – we’re still waiting for this notice to come through for approval to go into the newspapers. The agent also asked Dr Collett if he would place this ad in the Koori Mail and the National Indigenous Times – he refused to do that. Now these are two of the biggest national newspapers in Australia who deal with issues like this that people would be interested in. So I expect he is going to put the ad, when it does happen, just in a local rag that nobody really reads. So this has gone on for over 12 months – meanwhile, what Dr Collett is doing is actually aiding and abetting the RTA by letting them do more surface clearing, more destruction of Aboriginal sites and more damage to this area. This government department needs a good shake-up – it is their fault this is happening. It should not take this long for Dr Collett to get this happening – he has already admitted by telephone that the application has been approved, so there’s no problem with the application, it’s just him holding back, and the only conclusion I can drawn is that by doing this he is aiding and abetting the RTA.

Interviewer: Let me just ask you a question. The RTA initially did a study initially and they proposed four or five different routes - is there one acceptable to your group?

MC: Yes, we would go for Option A – it is to the other side of the Bulahdelah River, it transverses very flat land - virtually nothing happening on that land at all. It would be so much easier, there would be no geo-technical issues, there would be no pollution issues…. for instance, yesterday the town of Bulahdelah was covered in dust from the RTA’s surface clearing work. This is acid sulphate soil, and we are copping that dust. (Update – One day after the blasting, many residents of Bulahdelah experienced sore eyes – many have visited their doctor to try and ascertain the cause of this rash of illness) And if they get to go ahead with blasting, then we’ve got the problem of the alum dust - there would be none of these serious issues with Option A. It is a much safer route, no risk of a mountain that’s prone to boulder falls or rock falls [or land-slips, especially in the kind of deluges we have been experiencing lately] and even the RTA’s own documentation in the earlier days stated that Option A was the best Option.

Interviewer: So was there any reasoning given as to why they didn’t choose Option A?

Malcolm: No – the RTA aren’t very good at giving reasons. [Malcolm also intimates that he has had three threats from them to get off the land...mb]

Interviewer: So what about state government intervention?

Malcolm: Well, as you well know, when you write to somebody in government, you get the standard form letter back. You can plead with them not to send you a form letter, to please give me a valid reason, and you get another form letter back…. And this is how it’s been for 10 years. They will tell you that this is the route that was chosen, this is the outcome – well, we already know that – we want to know the reasons behind it. (Bob Higgins gave the reason that there was significant environmental and Aboriginal issues related to Option A – EITHER A BLATANT LIE or he had been given false information, ie, someone else has been lying…) And that is why I say Dr David Collett is just aiding and abetting by holding this up. I went to the federal court this year for one of Worimi’s appeal cases – Dr Collett was present in the court room, and to my shock and horror he was sniggering and laughing at every point Worimi’s lawyer made. Now he needs to be there in the position of accepting the application, which he has done, and then following through and working towards a protection. But it seems very obvious what side he’s working on and why he is holding and delaying this current section 10 application.

(Mentions facebook sites: Save the Sacred Alum Mountain and Malcolm Carrall’s own personal site.)

Interviewer: I want to ask you another question… alum dust. Can you tell us a bit about what it is, what it’s used for?

MC: When they mined alum here in the early days it was used as a setting agent for the dying of fabric - they also extracted pectin for the setting of jams. It’s very toxic – when moist or wet, it actually turns into sulphuric acid….. (“Ooooo…” - interviewer) and this is the freshly broken exposed rock of the alum. Now when they start breaking that rock, this is what is going to be created. We will be breathing it. School children just below the highway will be breathing it [as well as highly carcinogenic diesel fumes - constantly] - no matter how much they want to water it down, it’s still going to expose this highly toxic dust into our lungs.

We’ll get it all up onto facebook on my page and the Save the Sacred Alum Mountain page with Dr Collett’s details, because by now it should be well and truly into its submission period - this is where they advertise it in papers and people can write a submission to support the Stop the RTA and protect this site.

Interviewer: Shocking state of affairs, my friend … you’ll all have to move to Nimbin; lots of fresh air up here. You’ve requested a song.. can you announce it?

MC: Yes - you’re about to play the original version of “Highway to Hell”.

Image 1: Photo of the mountain from a distance

Image 2: Road sign erected by the Australian Government, New South Wales Government and Auslink.

Upgrading the

Pacific Highway

Bulahdelah Upgrade Early Works

Upgrade length 8.6.km

(Very basic map of new highway route showing northern and southern interchange sites. It has been ‘de-faced’ by a picture of the Aboriginal flag and the words SACRED SITE over the area of the mountain.)

Jointly funded by the Australian and NSW governments

Image 3: Sacred Frog Rock and two other large rocks standing in dense bushland in the background with a large pile of recently chopped down trees (“logs”) in the foreground.

Image 4: Worimi Dates holding his grandson, looking at a huge swathe of cleared land through what was dense bush perpetrated by the RTA.

Image 5: Section of the barbed wire fence the RTA erected in June of last year – on a concrete strainer is graffiti saying: YOU ARE ON SACRED ABORIGINAL LAND. Barbed wire kills native animals – two sugar gliders were caught up in barbs and suffered horrible and slow deaths by starvation on my Nature Reserve after neighbours erected a barbed wire fence – photographic evidence available.

Image 6: Worimi’s grandson holding a surveying post

Image 7: Worimi and his grandson walking along a recently cleared pathway.

Image 8: Photo of the mountain from Stroud Street, showing how the town backs into the foothills, at present unimpeded walking access to Mountain Park for residents, tourists and hundreds of children from the schools – this will be cut through by a 6-lane highway that they will need to negotiated, quite apart from the POLLUTION that will constantly be exposed to.

Image 9: Huge crawler track backhoe excavation machine working, owned by NEWCASTLE EARTHMOVING.

Image 10: Two young Worimi children, who are the future custodians of this sacred site, standing by an RTA barricade.

Image 11: Concrete barricade with graffiti painted over it: RTA GO AWAY / OPTION ‘A’ ALL THE WAY / SACRED LAND around the Aboriginal Flag.

Image 12: A large banner erected on poles, with a picture in a central triangle of the mountain and the words WORIMI SACRED SITES, and larger words RTA NO WAY around the outside.

Image 13: Very large bulldozer with numerous protrusions.

Image 14: Photo taken at the top of the mountain with full moon in the sky

Image 15: The neat and tidy Bulahdelah Aboriginal Tent Embassy Info tent and meeting place under a tarp, erected for a few weeks in the Mountain Park (the town’s premier tourism asset) - a banner SACRED SITES – STOP with the Aboriginal flag hangs from poles. This is the camp that (name deleted) referred to in her published letter to editor – she complained about how the messy tents were spoiling her enjoyment of the park – it exemplifies a typical racist mindset that she took offence to Aboriginal people trying to save one of their most important sacred precincts, on a par with Uluru, yet she didn’t mind a 6-lane highway cutting straight through the Mountain Park.

(A few images of RTA fenced off areas and cleared swathes of land – CONSTRUCTION ZONE - AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY / NO UNAUTHROISED ACCESS – IF UNATTENDED CONTACT 49168512 / ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AREA (!!!) NO ENTRY – ENTRY MAY RESULT IN PROSECUTION – INQUIRIES PHONE: 1800 688 153)

Penny Sharpe MLC Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Roads GPO david@campbell.minister.nsw.gov.au

Box 5341 Sydney

NSW 2001

Dear Ms Sharpe,

An email will follow, explaining the NSW Government and the Federal Government’s legal liability for the willful and unnecessary destruction of The Alum Mountain Cultural Precinct, detailing the damage you have already and intend to wreak on the future eco/cultural tourism potential of this unique World Heritage-valued landscape; it includes a list of the identified risks to public safety this by-pass route will inevitably have, all of which you are aware.

Maureen Brannan

905 Wilsons Road

CLOYNA Q 4605 ph: 04 277 10523 (insert email)

----- Original Message -----

From: maureen brannan

To: Fed Heritage Min Tony Burke;

Copy: Fed Heritage Dr David Collett

Sent: Monday, January 17, 2011 6:02 PM

Subject: Urgent Enquiry called for into gross negligence in your Dept re Application for Protection

Dear Minister Burke,

This very important application (below), calling for urgent protection of an ‘immeasurably significant' Aboriginal cultural site that the tribal custodians claimed was being threatened with virtually total destruction, was presented to Dr. David Collett (Australian Government's Director Indigenous Heritage East) on the 27^th August 2009. It appears that Dr Collett then left this urgent application sitting on his desk, unacted upon, for 16 MONTHS until just recently when an advert concerning the application appeared in the Newcastle Herald. No reason has been given for this lengthy delay. During that time, more than twenty sacred and very significant old-growth Aboriginal heritage trees, some around seven-hundred-years-old, were brought down and disposed of by the NSW RTA; many hectares of dense bushland, habitat of rare & threatened plants and animals, was cleared on the mid and lower slopes of the mountain, the healing stream covered over by clearing for a power line easement and excavations commenced on those slopes to build a 6-lane highway through the mountain. The exact extent of the destruction is unknown to me at present although I have requested the RTA give me full details of their ‘work’ to date.

Please inform me of anyone else who knew about the existence of this report and who was therefore complicit in what can at best be described as gross negligence, and possible corruption, which has resulted in many egregious acts against Aboriginal people and their heritage being perpetrated at this site.

This on-going tragedy eminently deserves an urgent enquiry, which must be undertaken without any further delay, and it is incumbent upon you as minister to IMMEDIATELY HALT any further work on the Option E route while this enquiry takes place. Previously in a court proceeding, Dr Collett was witnessed exhibiting insulting and disrespectful behaviour towards Worimi Date's lawyer, Al Oshlack of the Indigenous Justice Advocacy Network. Clearly, this bureaucrat should be stood down pending the outcome of the enquiry.

Maureen Brannan, 905 Wilsons Road CLOYNA Q 4605 ph: 04 277 10523

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[xiii][xiii] Some UN agencies being approached: U.N. complaint procedure: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/complaints.htm.

"Overall, the ICE exists in order to modify actions, attitudes and approaches that cause eco-damage, imperilling health and livelihoods." Stephen Hockman QC

International Court

for the Environment,

PO Box 65839 LONDON EC4P 4FY

info@environmentcourt.com

UN Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, United Nations, 2 UN Plaza, Room DC2-1454, New York NY 10017 indigenous_un@un.org

IUCN – conserving biodiversity and human wellbeing issues – preserving sacred landscapes & corridors: mail@iucn.org

The NSW Ombudsman was provided with ample evidence to warrant investigation – The NSW EIS had 550 anti-Option E respondents, making knowledgeable, valid points; pro-Option E solicited just 11 inane comments, yet the RTA dismissed them all and chose to continue with Option E – that is beyond outrageous – that is provably criminal. To date the Ombudsman has not acted.

Worimi’s Red Ash carving was officially launched by Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, Governor of New South Wales, on Thursday, 18^th October, 2007. The Governor of this state has met with Worimi and admired his work.

Her Excellency’s address is: Office of the Governor of NSW, Level 3, Chief Secretary’s Building,

121 Macquarie Street, SYDNEY

, NSW 2000

Contact information for Professor S. James Anaya, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people:-

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur is serviced by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: OHCHR, United Nation, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Tel. + 41 – 22 917 96 47 fax + 41 – 22 917 60 10 Email: indigenous@ohchr.org

The Landmarks Foundation was founded in 1997 to conserve sacred sites and landscapes around the world. Whether locations are in current use today or relics left by vanished ancestors, these sacred places are tangible and sometimes intangible focal points for the beliefs, rituals and religions that define human societies. These structures and integral natural settings are threatened by economic expansion, desecration, pollution and neglect as well as by natural disasters and erosion. Just like the natural world, mankind's spiritual heritage is in need of dedicated protection. Established as a tax-exempt organization, The Landmarks Foundation directs funding and technical expertise to local groups that cannot protect their sacred cultural heritage without assistance. Selection of specific projects is based on cultural significance and degree of jeopardy.

155 East 75th Street, New York, New York 10021

tel 212.288.6699 fax 212.288.5655
www.landmarksfoundation.org samgreen@landmarksfoundation.org

To: The Landmarks Foundation

I note that your group is trying to conserve a 5,000-year-old earthworks, the 'largest ritual gathering place' in Britain. I also note that your group's mission is to 'conserve sacred sites and landscapes around the world'.

I'd therefore like to draw your attention to a very ancient sacred landscape in Australia, the Bunya Lands, covering a vast area and mountain range in SE Queensland, that has been a gathering place for humans for at least 60,000 years, probably for far longer – Burnum Burnum maintains it was the first meeting place of mankind. People would have gathered there for the annual harvest of nutritious nuts, from humanity's very beginnings. It is the telluric and social hub of the continent, where all the Songlines (major migratory routes) converge. From there evolved over the millennia an incredibly complex ceremonial event, directly or indirectly (through trade) involving the population of the entire continent - the bunya nut united them as one people. Participating tribes had allotted trees for their own harvest waiting for them after their long migration. It was the biennial or triennial event (according to the size of that year’s fruiting) where sacred ceremonies were carried out, their 'Olympic' games held, goods traded, marriages arranged, problems and grievances aired and sorted out, formidable amounts of information exchanged - a mind-bogglingly complex interaction of the nation's tribes.

Thornborough Henge was obviously a very important gathering place for Britain's ancient peoples, but how much more culturally significant, to all of humanity, is this unique, primordial sacred terrain? Yet it does not receive any recognition as such, although the mountains were made a National Park for their ecological values. It would be an archaeologist’s paradise – the signaling fires alone would provide evidence of how far back into antiquity these events had been held. Time Team were informed of human skeletal remains discovered in the 19th century when digging a well, that might have eclipsed Talgai man, but they were not interested. There are currently moves to have the mountains listed as a World Heritage site, and a submission is being placed with the IUCN to make the Dreaming Track known as the Rainbow Serpent Songline, registered protected landscape from its crossing place on Murullbakgera (River of the Breathing Fish - The Burnett River) to the Mountains. This will open up a great many tourism, conservation & other economic opportunities for Aboriginal people and non-indigenous Australians alike.

Please contact me for more information if you could help efforts to conserve and restore this sacred landscape and help Indigenous people revive this incredibly important cultural event.

Maureen Brannan S>A>N>E> (Save Australia's Natural Environment) PO Box 214 MURGON Qld 4605 [Currently petitioning them to help protect Bula Dilla’s cultural landscape]

[xv][xv] Respondents to the EIS - Indigenous heritage

The respondent states that in the Navin Officer report "Investigation into reported Aboriginal graves at the base of the Bulahdelah Mountain (Alum Mountain), NSW" there is a letter from Steve Brereton, outlining the sacred nature of the Alum Mountain as the Indigenous tribes laid to rest in platform burial the most influential men in their culture. The respondent believes that there are two facts from Steve Brereton's letter that need to be recognised. The first fact is that the letter is dated November 2000, at that time Option E was only one of five options being considered. The second fact is that Steve Brereton states in his letter that "For the past 10 years I have been spending time with Aboriginal Elders from different areas learning traditional ways and beliefs of our ancestors."

The study commissioned by the National Parks and Wildlife Service recommended the listing of Alum Mountain as an Aboriginal place from the Scott Street boundary to the top of the Alum Mountain continuing over the other side. The respondent states that the Alum Mountain is a very special area, with significance in Aboriginal history as a striking landscape feature, with deep spiritual values. This has led to some divisions between the Forster and Karuah elements of the Worimi People. The respondent feels that some of the sites located in the footprint of the Option E have been trivialised by playing the two Aboriginal factions against each other. It does not matter where the artificial Local Aboriginal Land Council boundaries are drawn; it is what the Worimi people as a whole nation think! The respondent request that the RTA not underestimate the significance of the Bulahdelah Mountain (including the proposed route) to them and the need to keep the landscape as one, not severed from the river landscape.

The respondent states that the National Parks and Wildlife Service have recommended the listing Bulahdelah Mountain (including the footprint of Option E) as an

Aboriginal Place

of significance. The respondent states that the Alum Mountain is a very special area, with significance in Aboriginal history as a striking landscape feature, with deep spiritual values. This has led to some divisions between the Forster and Karuah elements of the Worimi People. The respondent feels that some of the sites located in the footprint of the Option E have been trivialised by playing the two Aboriginal factions against each other. It does not matter where the artificial Local Aboriginal Land Council boundaries are drawn; it is what the Worimi people as a whole nation think! The respondent request that the RTA not underestimate the significance of the Bulahdelah Mountain (including the proposed route) to them and the need to keep the landscape as one, not severed from the river landscape.

4.9.2 Indigenous Heritage

In summary, respondents to the EIS and SIS raised the following issues:

Ø Concern over the derogatory manner in which the EIS Summary Book treats Indigenous Heritage. No mention is made of the ‘strong basis for treating seriously the possibility that Aboriginal burials occurred on the (Bulahdelah) mountain’ outlined in Appendix 2 of Volume 7.

Ø The significance of Bulahdelah Mountain, in regard to indigenous heritage, was established in 2000, when Option E was one of five options being considered. . [And archaeological proof of Aboriginal use of the mountain was recorded as being in the path of Option E – but no Aboriginal archaeological materials were found in the path of Option A. Ref. Navin Officer Indigenous Heritage Report. Kelvin Officer, Navin Officer Heritage consultants, is the archaeologist responsible for the Sandon Point situation where Aboriginal people and others have been forced to spend over ten years of their lives trying to protect the area.]

Ø The Karuah Land Council has a pecuniary interest in the approval of Option E, possibly indicating why Karuah Land Council has shown little interest in the Indigenous heritage of Bulahdelah (Alum) Mountain. [And Karuah Aboriginal land council obtained addition land near Option E after the NSW Minister for Roads (then Carl Scully) announced Option E as his ‘preferred option’.] Concern has been shown for this heritage by the Forster Local Aboriginal Land Council. Many Worimi Elders regard Bulahdelah (Alum) Mountain as being of immense spiritual and cultural importance.

Ø The information presented in the EIS in relation to the ‘healing stream’ is incorrect. Only one of the dams is not natural and therefore the hydrology of the ’healing stream’ could not have been altered by this second dam. [The contemporary use Healing Stream site has now been destroyed by the new section of power line easement. In 2009 the RTA and Kelvin Officer – despite having the GPS of the contemporary use location (a relatively secluded spot) – took an Aboriginal group to a false location beside the public footbridge at the Alum Mountain Park – the footbridge is also now destroyed – you can find photo of this towards foot of page at: http://bulahdelahbypass.wordpress.com/h1-heritage-culture-multicultural-wanton-destruction/ ] (Also refer to xx)

Ø The ‘Guardian Tree’ is of strong Aboriginal significance, and importance to the Worimi and Biripi Elders. [More evidence that the site was used by neighbouring nations as well, which goes to show just how very significant this site is! There is some confusion as to whether some people living on the border identify as Worimi or Biripi…some are probably both. The importance of the Guardian- Healing-Tree (the so-important fact that the tree was a healing tree has been left out nearly all the documentation) is to Worimi and Biripi elders of today. This information comes from the 115 Aboriginal people who signed the testimony in 2003 that the tree and the area around it were Sacred.]

Ø Indigenous sites located within the footprint of Option E have been trivialised by playing the Forster and Karuah elements of the Worimi People against each other.

Ø Option E is pre-emptive as the Aboriginal cultural status has not been clarified by the RTA, and therefore destruction of Aboriginal sites should be considered.

Response: The EIS Summary Book is necessarily limited in its scope and the summarised format does not necessarily allow for the communication of all the issues which have contributed towards the management recommendations. The issue of reported Aboriginal burials on the Bulahdelah Mountain was investigated in a separate analysis in 2001. The findings of this analysis were included within section 4.2 of the EIS Technical Paper 16, and the majority of the 2001 report was repeated as Appendix 2 of that Paper. The analysis found that oral traditions were not collaborated by documentary evidence, [That’s because NO STUDIES have ever been made of Worimi burial traditions! There’s plenty of documentation regarding the tradition per se from dozens of tribal groups] or from evidence predating the upgrade Proposal. Despite this, the fact that two apparently independent oral sources related the same account provided a strong basis for treating seriously the possibility that Aboriginal burials occurred on the mountain. [More than two: ‘King’ Billy (Bulahdelah) is buried on the mountain – not in the path of Option E but at the back of a property named ‘The Glen’ on the south-eastern side of the mountain. There’s also the ‘midden/dancing ground’ which is in that area. Kelvin Officer conveniently left out of his reports the fact that – as per the Umwelt report on the However, in the absence of any surface archaeological indications or specific oral information regarding potential burial locations, only general impact mitigation strategies can be instigated in response to this finding. [Kelvin Officer told a colleague that due to the acidity of the mountain’s soils there would be unlikely to be any bones present, therefore there could not be any archaeological indications anyway. Also the bones of revered elders were carefully collected after evisceration of all the flesh while the body was ‘laying in state’ on a platform in the tree, then ochred and secretly interred in a cave – obviously the location would be guarded by custodians. This is the ‘specific oral information’ that Worimi Dates did provide – another falsehood.]

NPWS Aboriginal Place

Nomination – the NPWS site card has ‘Alum Mountain’ as part of its location.]

The Upgrade project would include standard strategies with regard to potential burial remains. These consist of the exclusion by the DEC of human skeletal material from any section 90 heritage impact permits provided (refer to the note at the end of this section for further discussion on section 90 permits), and the adoption of standard ‘stop work’ protocols in the event of the discovery of skeletal remains.

The declaration of the Bulahdelah Mountain as an

Aboriginal Place

is a proposal currently under consideration by the DEC. An analysis by Umwelt Environmental Consultants of the feasibility of this proposal was commissioned by the DEC in 2003 however the proposal is yet to be formally adopted or executed by the DEC.

The status of Bulahdelah (Alum) Mountain as a place of Aboriginal cultural heritage significance has been recognised since the early stages of the environmental assessment of the Bulahdelah Pacific Highway Upgrade. The potential impacts of the various route options on the Aboriginal cultural significance of Bulahdelah Mountain were considered as part of the process that identified the current route as the preferred Upgrade option. [And they knowingly and deliberately chose the one which would cause the most damage.]

All of the Aboriginal groups and individuals involved in the consultation for the Upgrade assessment have expressed concern for the Aboriginal cultural values of Bulahdelah Mountain. The interpretation of those values and their manifestation does however differ across some groups and individuals. All groups have acknowledged the high value and significance of the upper slopes of the Mountain. The impact of the Upgrade, which would occur on the lower slopes, is not however the subject of a consensus view by the Aboriginal community. [!No reason to UTTERLY DISMISS IT! There will NEVER be absolute consensus between any tribal groups for anything! They are separate COUNTRIES, not one Aboriginal community!]

Ref: About the Bulahdelah Bypass – the Facts! From the RTA Aboriginal Group Meeting of 22nd January, 2001 [underlines and bold and red typeface added for emphasis]:-

Page 2 Item 11: Both Land Councils and other representatives agree that there were unlikely to be issues on the other four routes – A, B, C and D. No need to investigate for sites on these routes.

Evidence of the environmental and cultural significance of this mountain can be found ANYWHERE….

From Discover Australia By Road Atlas:

BULAHDELAH 261 Km north of Sydney Population: 1113

On the

Pacific Highway

Since the early nineteenth century, the area has been a supplier of high quality hardwood, and numerous local state forests still supply the industry. They also house a diverse range of flora and fauna including 275 species of birds, 45 species of mammals and 41 species of reptiles and frogs. There are some rare animals in this list, including the yellow-bellied glider, golden-tipped bat, sooty owl and the nocturnal tiger quoll. On Bulahdelah Mountain, there are 16 species of orchid. (Actually there have now been 89 species identified on the mountain)]

----- Original Message -----

From: Cockburn, Alistair

To: maureen brannan

Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 4:41 PM

Subject: FW: Bulahdelah By-pass "Track to the Devil's Den" [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

Hi Maureen,

I have received a response from the appropriate area of the Department in relation to the Bulahdelah By-pass. Please read the email from Dr David Collett, Dir. Indigenous Heritage East Section, below.

From: Collett, David
Sent: Friday, 12 March 2010 5:17 PM
To: Cockburn, Alistair
Subject: RE: Bulahdelah by-pass "The Track to the Devil's Den" [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

Hi Alistair, Below is some previously cleared text.

Dr David Collett Director Indigenous Heritage East T: (02) 6274 2080 M: 0434 568 721

Aboriginal people have have made a number of applications under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 seeking protection for Alum Mountain. [Just how many applications Dr Collett received and the details of each one, is a major factor for an Inquiry that must take place in a case of Aboriginal Heritage vandalism of this severity, to determine the extent of his negligence in assessing them] As required under the Act, the Minister received an independent report [Again, the details of this report must be made available to courts] addressing, amongst other matters, the particular significance of the area in accordance with Aboriginal tradition. After considering the report and the attached representations […then Peter Garrett DID receive Worimi Dates dvd – this can only mean he either did not watch it or dismissed it as being irrelevant, both a complete dereliction of duty and worthy of a call for his dismissal] the Minister was not satisfied that the area was of particular significance in accordance with Aboriginal tradition and could not make a protective declaration. [This statement will go down in history. Just what would it take to ‘satisfy’ the minister that this mountain is significant to the Worimi? Why, after overwhelming evidence was presented to him from a number of sources, including a dvd made of Worimi’s secret/sacred evidence, did Minister Garrett falsely claim that only the top of the mountain was significant, and therefore the midslopes could be built over? It is a blatant LIE. It will certainly be subject to further litigation.]

The Minister has supplied the applicant with a statement setting out the reasons for his decision not to make a protective declaration. ( I am attempting to get access to that.)The matter is currently before the Federal Court.

Apparently, the Commonwealth Environment Minister's consultative process for assessing the importance of the Alum Mountain site, in terms of its indigenous heritage, has been rigorous. With all available information and advice from an independent legal expert, the Minister has determined that the site does not meet the required criteria for national indigenous heritage site. [I’m a very busy person – I’ve been working on community self-reliance and ecological restoration, in practice and on the internet, for over 40 years. I’m also undertaking a BA in Indigenous Studies by correspondence, and yet in just a few months of research in my spare time, I have discovered overwhelming evidence that this mountain is THE most significant site for the Worimi nation and I am just an individual without the enormous resources of a federal department. It is beyond belief that Peter Garrett could not find enough evidence to protect the mountain.]

I'm sorry to bear this news to you.

Kind regards, Alistair

Alistair Cockburn Compliance Officer Compliance and Enforcement Branch Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts GPO

Box 787 CANBERRA

ACT 2601 Ph: (02) 6275 9034 Fax: (02) 6274 1607

[xvi][xvi] “In 2003, one hundred and fifteen Aboriginal people testified, in writing, as to the significance of the Guardian- Healing-Tree and its surrounding area. The RTA and their consultants PPK (now Parsons Brinkerhoff) were sent copies of these testimonies which were:-

As Worimi Elders, we the undersigned state that the tree pictured below which grows on … [location description deleted for protective reasons] is a Sacred Aboriginal Site and that the area around it is also sacred; that the tree and its surrounding area are of Sacred Aboriginal Significance.

The RTA failed to include mention of this in the Bulahdelah Upgrading the Pacific Highway Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Records of the attendance of Aboriginal people at meetings opposing the use of Option E in the year 2000 were also omitted from the EIS. The RTA – and Karuah Aboriginal land council – knew as long ago as 1990 that the Alum Mountain is of Aboriginal cultural heritage significance.”

Protect our Mountain

December, 2010

Estelle Carrall on behalf of Cynthia Dungay Dates writes:

In the Worimi nation, in a town called Bulahdelah about one hour north of Newcastle, is a sacred mountain. This mountain is a hugely significant place; it also has many significant sites.

In the year 2000 the Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW announced that they had plans to build a new section of highway which would be blasted up to 25 metres deep through this sacred mountain which would desecrate this revered place and destroy its significant sites.

Despite Aboriginal opposition since this route option was first announced, and despite the fact that there are other, cheaper, safer and non-culturally destructive options available, the RTA have continued to pursue this route for the

Bulahdelah Pacific Highway

upgrade.

It has been 10 years now since the RTA announced they were planning to locate the highway through the mountain but they only started work on the mountain less than a year ago. In August 2009 an application was made under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 for protection of the mountain before RTA had even started any clearing work, but the government has been stalling this application and didn’t accept it until four months ago. Then they said that the public notice for it would be in the press soon, but they are still holding it up today.

Since the application was first made, many cultural icons have been destroyed including artefact scatter, around 20 scarred trees and other sacred trees, but people are still fighting to save this sacred place and its remaining sites.

Even though this application could potentially save this sacred mountain and its sites, the RTA are still allowed to continue destroying it despite the fact that this application has been accepted by the Federal Government and a decision has not yet been made by the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, the Hon Tony Burke MP, whether or not to protect it under Section 10 of the Act.

Ms Cynthia Dungay-Dates, who is the applicant for the Section 10 and a custodian for the mountain, said: “Thousands of years of culture, heritage and tradition are imbedded in this place and although what the RTA have done so far is absolutely terrible, if they are allowed to continue things will be much, much worse. The mountain must be protected; this place is far too important to have it destroyed. It’s a place where our ancestors have come, where we have come, where our children then grandchildren will come, and it is vitally important that this place is protected, not only for us but for future generations.”

There are no reasons why this application shouldn’t have been accepted sooner and there are no reasons why it shouldn’t be put through to the stage for public comment now.

The government is also refusing to publish the public notice for the application in the National Indigenous Times and the Koori Mail and the request for a five week submission period; this will mean that many people will not get a chance to hear about it or by the time they do, with the government only granting a two week submission period (which is the minimum), it will be too late for them to submit.

In a previous Section 10 Application for the Sacred Mountain, Peter Garrett, the former Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, refused to make a declaration under the Section 10, stating that he found that only the top of the mountain was significant! Ms Dungay Dates said “that’s simply not true - the whole mountain is sacred, not just the top. Saying that it is not, is like going to a church and saying only the cross on the top is sacred and you can destroy the rest!”

All the sites listed in these applications are and/or were right in the path of the highway route. We now hope that when the application is finally put through, Tony Burke will succeed where Peter Garrett failed, and will protect this place, as due process calls for. If not, a hugely significance place of Aboriginal culture heritage and tradition will be lost forever.

Estelle Carrall’s plea: Previous application under section 10

In a previous section 10 application where the former minister Peter Garrett refused to make a declaration for protection of the mountain under an s.10, he stated that he was satisfied that the upper slopes and ridge crest outcrops of the mountain is a significant Aboriginal area but he was not satisfied that this area was under threat of injury or desecration and wouldn’t make a declaration under a s.10. This is not true. The whole mountain is sacred not only the top, the mountain is all one and even though different parts are used for different things, there is not one part that is more sacred/significant than another. To make a comparison, saying that only the top of the mountain is sacred/significant is just like saying to a Christian that the only part of a church or cathedral that is sacred is the cross or tower on the top and destroying the rest… except those things can be rebuilt. Once places like the mountain are destroyed they’re gone forever and so is the Dreamtime stories, culture, heritage and tradition that existed in that place.

If the mountain is not protected and the RTA are allowed to continue with their intended route for the Bulahdelah pacific highway upgrade, it would destroy a hugely significant Dreaming place and places used for Aboriginal traditions and wipe out Aboriginal cultural use for the entire mountain, including the destruction of Dreamtime stories that connect to it, because the mountain is the only place where these stories can be passed down and the places where they are passed down is right where the highway would be. The mountain’s protection is vital to the spirituality and culture of people who are connected to it and to the continuation of tradition on the mountain. Even places on the mountain that the RTA class as not affected, would be, because if they are allowed to continue, the whole mountain will become cursed and a sad place which will bring about too many bad and sad feelings, and cause people too much distress to go there. Also the whole mountain would become noise polluted so even if people could go there after the road was built, all areas on the mountain would be affected by constant noise which would be a severe impact to the mountain and peoples ability to carry out traditions.

Comments from Aunty Cynthia Dungay Dates, section 10 applicant and custodian:

“Although many sites on the mountain have been destroyed, this has not taken away the areas significance. There are thousands of years of Dreaming culture, heritage and tradition embedded in this place and while work that the RTA has done so far has not taken that away (although what they’ve done so far is terrible), if they are allowed to continue things will be much worse. The RTA has stolen a lot of things away from us, but if they are allowed to continue we will lose much more.

The mountain has to be protected! This place is too important to have it taken away. It’s a place where people of the past have come, where we have come, where our children then grandchildren have come and it’s vitally important that this place is protected, not only for us but for future generations to come.”

Thank you for taking the time to read this information. The mountain is such an important place of Aboriginal culture, heritage and tradition of the past, present and for the future. If the mountain is not protected and the RTA are allowed to continue, they will not only be taking away a hugely important place of the past but they will be taking away a hugely important place for the future, a place that holds thousands of years of culture, heritage and tradition; if it is protected, it will hold this precious heritage for thousands more years to come.

Please help us save this sacred place.

Save the Alum Sacred Mountain, Bulahdelah.

Description:

The Alum Sacred Mountain, Bulahdelah, between Taree and Newcastle, is under threat by the RTA who plan to build a 6 lane hwy through the base of the mountain held sacred for time out of mind by the indigenous “Worimi” people of that country. It is traditionally believed to be a place where the spirits of the dead go to wait to be reincarnated. At the base of the mountain is a bora ring, burial site, a healing stream, ochre ground, many canoe trees and a Guardian Tree. The Guardian Tree is believed to be up to 700 years old. Traditionally when people were dying they would be laid under the tree on a platform, and when they passed away their bodies would be left under the tree with their spirit waiting until the bones were finally carried to the top of the mountain to a burial place.

If the RTA’s plans for the highway go ahead these trees and bora ring, stream and pools will be destroyed, the ground itself blasted into several meters deep to find the solid rock that could support a highway, which could compromise the fragile top of the mountain and cause landslides and even more degradation.

Uncle Worimi, the custodian who with his family has been passionately defending this, his ancestral land and has been camping at the site, recently suffered a heart attack due to a violent attack inflicted by some of the local townspeople. He underwent open heart surgery with a 2 in 7 chance of surviving and is now recovering in hospital. The police have said that the place must be evicted of anyone supporting Uncle Worimi by Friday 28th August 09 so that the RTA can move in. Now is the time that awareness must be generated, and anyone able to support Uncle Worimi and the mountain please contact Malcolm bulahdelahtentembassy@gmail.com or go to the site itself. Sadly on the 23rd December 2009 the Guardian-Healing Tree was cut down by the RTA, and this action was supported by Karuah Local Aboriginal Land Council, State Aboriginal Land Council, NSW Police and SNP Security. There are still more Sites on the Alum Mountain to Save, and still more that we can do.

Contacting Peter Garrett, minister for the Environment, Heritage and Arts, letting him know your feelings about this, can be done through his direct e-mail. peter.garrett.mp@aph.gov.au

--------------------------------------------

[xvii][xvii]   R ‘E’ JECT IT!
Thousands of motorists each year marvel at the richly coloured and starkly serene mountain range which stands sentinel over the township of Bulahdelah. Most of these motorists would also be unaware of a decision made by Hon. Carl Scully, Minister for Roads, Minister for Transport, to use the base of this unique mountain for the Pacific Highway Upgrade – Bulahdelah, known as ‘Option E’.

‘Option E’, the label given to this option of madness is: - wrong for the travelling public; wrong for the atmosphere of the town; wrong for the aesthetics of Alum Mountain and its park; wrong for Bulahdelah children and their school; wrong for the town’s history, heritage and culture; wrong for business.

A danger also exists with the construction of ‘Option E’ - a danger that should be taken very seriously. If ‘Option E’ were to be constructed the dust caused from the alum is highly dangerous. Research into the dangers of alum dust has revealed: - causes cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, redness and pain to the skin, corrosive, redness, severe deep burns to the eyes if ingested, abdominal pain, burning sensation, nausea, vomiting.

There have been two recorded adult deaths caused from the ingestion of 30 grams of alum powder. A label hazard warning states: -

"WARNING! HARMFUL IF SWALLOWED OR INHALED, CAUSES IRRITATION TO SKIN, EYES AND RESPIRATORY TRACT."   Label Precautions: - Avoid breathing dust - Keep container closed - Use only with adequate ventilation - Wash thoroughly after handling - Avoid contact with eyes, skin and clothing

Label First Aid: - "If swallowed, DO NOT INDUCE VOMITING. Give large quantities of water. Never give anything by mouth to an unconscious person. If inhaled, remove to fresh air. If not breathing, give artificial respiration. If breathing is difficult, give oxygen. In case of contact, wipe off excess material from skin then immediately flush eyes or skin with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes. Remove contaminated clothing and shoes. Wash clothing before reuse. In all cases, get medical attention."

After reading these facts about alum, why would anyone wish to proceed with placing a four lane, over 100 metre wide highway in an area that entirely consists of alum?

The Hazards Identification Fact Sheets can be viewed at: -   http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/a2856.htm

Bulahdelah had five options that could be used for the Pacific Highway Upgrade – Bulahdelah bypass.

With over 550 individual complaint forms signed and many preferred option forms collected by the Say NO to ‘Option E’ group, a large majority of these forms stated that the most preferred option was ‘Option A’, an option that passes to the west of the town, an option that was quoted in a PPK/RTA report – "Pacific Highway, Bulahdelah Upgrade – Route Options, Non-Indigenous Heritage Report as: -

Option A would have no direct or potential indirect impacts on any listed non-indigenous heritage item;

Option E passes within 100 metres of the intended Alum Mountain listing and passes through the old Alunite mine complex, which could impact on the integrity of the site.

‘Option E’ is also not the safest option for the Pacific Highway Upgrade – Bulahdelah. A Geotechnical Report for Community Information states: -

"Boulders on Alum Mountain - A small group of Rhyolite irregularly shaped boulders up to 6 metres in diameter was observed at the base of the mid-slope below and west of the Alum Mountain peak. These rocks are on the eastern edge of the power transmission easement and approximately 50 metres east of the

Jackson Street

interchange. These boulders are thought to have originated from the peak of Alum Mountain, directly upslope from their current position. These rocks are an indicator of previous rock face instability, which could potentially impact future route development in this area. Further examination of ‘Option E’ will require careful mapping and an assessment of risk of the instability for the cliffs at the peak of Alum Mountain. Risk reduction measures may include cliff stabilization works, re-alignment of the route and construction of protective mounds."

You can still object to ‘Option E’ being used, it is not too late.

Some other representations the minister could refer to: Virtually all the information you need to make your decision as to the Aboriginal cultural significance of The Sacred Mountain can be found at:

· h) Heritage & Culture – Aboriginal – Wanton Destruction

· l) Message from the Ancestors

· m) The Sacred Guardian- Healing-Tree Memorial Page

· n) NSW – International Criminal Court Material

· o) Flora, Fauna, Old Growth Trees

· u) Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other U.N. Agreements

· YouTube – Nimbin FM broadcast with slide show

· Message to Ancestors

[xviii][xviii] Frog Rock - further desecration by the RTA took place on 15-3-10. The RTA stated in their recent Section 9, 10 and 12 response that Frog Rock would not be moved for the construction of the Highway. They also stated that they would only have to check it for stability. With what they have done now to Frog Rock they will really make it unstable, but of course, that is exactly what they want. The RTA today has excavated a large portion of ground from around its base. [Photos of wide area of clearing around the rock and excavation around its base - Image from: Save the Alum Sacred Mountain - with permission]

[xix][xix] THE GUARDIAN TREE

Malcolm Carrall wrote: .....I am writing in support of the application under Sections 9, 10 and 12 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Heritage Protection Act 1984 for an Emergency Declaration for the protection of the “Guardian-Healing Tree” and the Alum Sacred Mountain. I have been directly involved in providing expert advice to a great many of the Local Government Authorities in Queensland with respect to incorporating the constraints imposed by significant vegetation on large scale infrastructure projects. I am well aware of the advanced stage of the road improvement project around Bulahdelah, however I would remind all those concerned of this relevant clause within the approval decision for this section of the

Pacific Highway

project: NB! Annexure to the Approval Decision, Sept 10^th 2007

Clause 4. If the Minister believes that it is necessary or desirable for the better protection of the environment to do so, the Minister may request that the person taking the action to make specific revisions to the plans approved, and to submit the revised plans for the Minister’s approval. The person taking the action must comply with any such request…..

I am one of an increasing group of Australians from all walks of life that believe the values of Veteran Trees such as the “Guardian-Healing Tree” are tangible, and quantifiable. Veteran Trees are the lynch pins to habitat, stability, resilience and longevity; they are major contributors to environmental carbon sequestration both directly (within their woody tissues) and indirectly (through the maintenance of highly functional soil microbiology that lives in symbiosis with the tree roots); They come to hold a place of reverence in the minds of those people whose lives interact, even briefly, with them. New South Wales is rightfully proud of its general commitment to environmental protection, which continues to provide benchmarks for other states and territories in the management of threatened environments. Ensuring that due process is followed in the case of the “Guardian-Healing Tree” and the Alum Sacred Mountain is part of the core responsibilities of those that hold public office and the members of the public service that assist them. I urge you halt any irrevocable actions planned by the Road Traffic Authority in relation to the “Guardian-Healing Tree” and the Alum Sacred Mountain.

The Sacred Guardian- Healing-Tree

This Sacred Tree is a white mahogany estimated as being 400 to 500 years of age. Five or so other very special trees are in the vicinity and the site in which this tree is located is very sacred indeed. A great deal of spiritual energy emanates from not only the Guardian- Healing-Tree but from the entire site and the tree’s healing powers have been experienced by both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.

In the year 2003 one hundred and fifteen Aboriginal people testified, in writing, as to the significance of the Guardian- Healing-Tree and its surrounding area. The RTA and their consultants PPK (now Parsons Brinkerhoff) were sent copies of these testimonies which were:-

As Worimi Elders, we the undersigned state that the tree pictured below (which grows on … [location description deleted for protective reasons]) is a Sacred Aboriginal Site and that the area around it is also sacred; that the tree and its surrounding area are of Sacred Aboriginal Significance.

The RTA failed to include mention of this in the Bulahdelah Upgrading the Records of the attendance of Aboriginal people at meetings opposing the use of Option E in the year 2000 were also omitted from the EIS.

Pacific Highway

Environmental Impact Statement. (EIS)

‘The Alum Mountain’ is a nickname which has been in use for over a quarter of a century. Its registered name is ‘Bulahdelah Mountain’. The RTA – and Karuah Aboriginal Land Council – knew as long ago as 1990 that the Alum Mountain is of huge Aboriginal cultural heritage significance.

Protest and violence emerge in fight over bypass May 23, 2009

``This is my people's Dreaming'' ...Uncle Worimi, with his grandson Garuahgal, 2, in the park where he was attacked. Photo: Peter Rae

The traditional owner of land on the mid-North Coast is taking on opponents, writes Damien Murphy.

THE pub had been closed for a few hours when out of the darkness they appeared on the lower slopes of the majestic mountain that guards Bulahdelah - yelling.

The old Aborigine at his bush camp on Mount Alum left his four young University of Sydney student friends by the campfire and walked towards his car to confront the tormenters.

His father first brought him to the area long ago, showing him the bora ring, telling of how young men, after circumcisions, were cleansed in the Healing Stream that trickled down the mountain, and teaching about the Dreamtime meaning of the towering gums, the Guardian Tree, the Birthing Tree and the Burial Tree.

That was in 1956. On March 28 last year, Uncle Worimi Dates, aged 55, flicked on the headlights of his car just after midnight to illuminate seven young men, some carrying cans of Jim Beam, as they strode through gum trees around his camp that he had daubed with land rights flags. One of them king hit him. He fell, unconscious.

The others attacked the male students, smashing one in the face and slinging another to the ground. Their mates shouted abuse at the students' girlfriends. "Now he's brought Asians up here," one called.

Two local police arrived and eventually sent the attackers away. Fearing for their safety, the campers abandoned the mountain and sought sanctuary in the town. Unknown to them, much of the violence had been videoed (add website where it can be viewed on the internet) by locals sympathetic to Uncle Worimi's lone stand against the Roads and Traffic Authority's plan to divert the Pacific Highway around the town on the mid-North Coast. A twin-lane route east of the town would cut across Mount Alum, which has angered some who want the diversion moved to the west of Bulahdelah.

As massive highway constructions knock on Bulahdelah's southern limits, and Uncle Worimi, a wood carver with 54 grandchildren, has taken up residence in his bush camp, telling tourists and picnickers about the mountain's significance to Aboriginal culture, some opponents have been subjected to rock attacks on their homes.

"This here is my people's Dreaming," he told the Herald. "I have the authority to speak for my people. I am the traditional owner. Putting a road through … imagine how people would feel if a road went through St Peter's in Rome or the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem."

Uncle Worimi has no support from the Karuah Local Aboriginal Land Council, which negotiates with the Government on behalf of local Aborigines. The land council stood to receive financial compensation for surrendering Bulahdelah to the RTA. Its chief executive, David Feeney, refused to comment on Uncle Worimi's stand but it appeared to have galvanised dissatisfaction among some Aborigines who believe land councils have become more interested in obtaining money for projects than representing locals.

Aboriginal activists have started to coalesce behind Uncle Worimi. At his camp this week were men and elders from northern NSW and Uluru. On Wednesday Al Oshlack, an advocate for Aboriginal claimants, will take his case to the Land and Environment Court and argue that the land council had not fulfilled its legal obligations before negotiating with the RTA.

The Minister for the Environment, Peter Garrett, had already rejected an application for temporary protection of Mount Alum. Mr Oshlack said he would lodge a Federal Court application for permanent protection.

Meanwhile, Uncle Worimi said if the bulldozers came he would climb to the top of the Guardian Tree. "It's a good place to die."

Bypass protest

BY HELEN MANUSU

23 Sep, 2009 09:27 AM

PROTESTERS and the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority were playing a waiting game at Bulahdelah yesterday with the future route of the town's

Pacific Highway

bypass still being challenged.

Legal representatives of Aboriginal protester Worimi Dates were in the Federal court seeking an injunction against the RTA, while at the same time the RTA was announcing that work was starting on relocation of powerlines along its planned route through the lower slopes of Alum Mountain.

The situation came to a head on Monday as police and RTA officials arrived to evict the tent embassy established in Bulahdelah's Alum Mountain Park in February as a silent protest against the RTA's chosen route. Around 30 police stood guard after the tent embassy team were given notice of their eviction at 8.30am.

They were given until 5pm to vacate the site, but moved their tents and equipment less than a kilometre to 'The Guardian Tree', a significant tree to local Aboriginal people, which also stands in the path of the proposed highway clearing. At 5pm, the job of clearing the old embassy site had not been completed, with the RTA agreeing to allow the Protesters brief access yesterday morning to complete the job.

Monday's turn of events took a major toll on Worimi Dates, said one of his supporters, Bulahdelah resident Malcolm Carrall yesterday. Worimi is recovering from major heart surgery, but has threatened to climb to the top of the Guardian (or 'spirit') tree if the RTA's planned take-over of the mountain's lower slopes proceeds.

The RTA is waiting to make the final link to the dual divided

Pacific Highway

between Hexham and Port Macquarie, but the bypass of Bulahdelah township has always been a contentious issue. Work has progressed as far north as the southern banks of the Myall River, just east of Bulahdelah township.

The 'Say No to Option E' group have for four years been vocal in their protests of the RTA's favoured route, saying it would severely impact the lower part of Alum Mountain, under which [upon which – situated on lower slopes] the township nestles.

Instead, the protest group wanted the RTA to select Option A, on the town's opposite (or western side), which was also cheaper.

Court challenges to the RTA's choice are still being fought, with the latest in the Federal Court yesterday.

Malcolm Carrall described Monday's developments as "pretty full-on. It was all conducted very peacefully... there was no trouble. About 30 police arrived to guard the area the RTA was taking over (Alum Mountain Park)," he said. "They were standing on the road as the tents were being packed up. Worimi held a smoking ceremony before we left and set up totems which he told the RTA not to touch."

Mr Carrall said the protestors "ran out of time" at 5pm, with still some moving to do.

With police still standing by, negotiation was carried out to gain access to the old site again yesterday morning, to retrieve the final equipment.

About 80 people in total have been involved in camping out at the tent embassy since February. Over 70 attended the single biggest gathering on the site. The embassy was set up after a peaceful protest in May last year 'claimed back' the mountain for its Aboriginal ancestors.

"Worimi does have a lot of support. There are a lot of people very concerned and very angry that the highway is going to desecrate this site sacred to local Aboriginal people," Mr Carrall said yesterday. The Protesters have included indigenous and non-indigenous people, including environmentalists from several different groups.

Alum Park is now "totally blocked off with concrete barriers", he added, despite the fact that one of the RTA's newsletters contained information that Alum Park would not be affected by the works in progress. [? The highway will run straight through it!]

Mr Carrall said Worimi Dates, now with his supporters at the site of the Guardian Tree, "is refusing to leave the land until he absolutely has to."

"He was prepared to be arrested, I believe, if he had to. He looked shocking on Monday... it was a major upset to him to see the tent embassy packed up and moved."

Worimi’s willing to die to protect sacred trees 16 Dec, 2009 09:19 AM

ABORIGINAL protestor Worimi Dates is willing to die to protect the sacred trees that stand in the path of the Bulahdelah bypass. “I’ve said it before - if a dozer comes near the three sacred trees, I’m quite willing to fight to the end.” He made the claim following the second eviction of the tent embassy originally set up to protest the bypass along the lower slopes of the Alum Mountain to the north-east of town. The embassy had already been forcibly moved once, in late September, to make way for the relocation of power lines. The Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) and Bulahdelah police moved in once again last Monday to move them on. Bulahdelah man and long-time supporter of Worimi Dates, Malcolm Carroll, was served with an eviction notice at 8.15am at the Bulahdelah museum where he is a volunteer. “They said we had to have everything out by 9am.” Like Worimi he vows to continue to oppose the bypass route in one way or another although it’s uncertain if the tent embassy will be re-established. Worimi describes the area on the lower slopes of Alum Mountain as a ‘blackfella church’. As he explains, there are two very significant trees at the site which represent the traditional belief of death followed by spiritual reincarnation. The third is the guardian tree which looks over these two trees. “It protects the mountain and our tribal law.” Malcolm and Worimi believe that already the clearing work on the lower slopes has destroyed a healing stream. One of their next hopes for stopping the progress of the dual-lane bypass is an appeal in the Land and Environment Court in Sydney due to be heard this week. Worimi’s legal representative Al Oshlack will argue against Karuah Aboriginal Land Council’s decision to sell two blocks of land further to the north along the proposed route, to the RTA. Tenders with RTA for work on the bypass closed recently, with construction work due to start early in the new year. Aboriginal community leader Robert Corowa travelled down from Lismore to conduct a smoking ceremony on land (non-RTA-owned) above the guardian tree on Saturday in order to cleanse negative energy and to help protestors move forward with their fight.

Protesters move to save Guardian Tree 22 Dec, 2009 08:55 AM

PROTESTERS have climbed into Bulahdelah’s Guardian Tree, due to be cut down by the Roads and Traffic Authority today or tomorrow. Protesters say they will sit it out in the Aboriginal-significant heritage tree “for as long as is necessary”. In a total turnaround to its previous assertions that the tree did not have Aboriginal significance, the RTA has now invited its committed protector, Worimi Dates, to conduct ceremonies at its base today, prior to it being removed to a new position. (dumped in the open RTA yards…present whereabouts unknown – and where are all the other scar trees?) The huge eucalypt, thought to be several hundred years old, stands on the slopes of Alum Mountain, in the path of the RTA’s chosen route (EXACTLY – THE RTA CHOSE THE ROUTE, not the towns people and certainly not the Worimi!) for the Pacific Highway bypass of Bulahdelah township. It has been the subject of onsite protests and several court appeals, the last of which was being played out in Canberra yesterday afternoon, as the deadline for its removal loomed. On Friday, Federal Minister for Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, was called on to place an emergency protection order on the tree under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Heritage Protection Act. Staff in Mr Garrett’s department worked throughout the weekend on the issue, spokesman for the Indigenous Justice Advocacy Network, Al Oshlack told the Times yesterday, and a decision was expected as this edition went to press.

Last Monday and Tuesday, Mr Oshlack appeared in the NSW Land and [WHY NOT? – follow up – in the courts?]

Environment Court

on behalf of Mr Dates, challenging the right of the Karuah Aboriginal Land Council to sell certain blocks of land vested in it by native title, to the Roads and Traffic Authority along the highway upgrade’s route. Mr Oshlack said Justice Nicola Pain heard submissions from all parties and had hoped to hand down a decision quickly. However due to the legal complexities of the issue, Justice Pain reserved her decision, which now could be handed down towards the end of January, he said. In the meantime, the RTA has invited Mr Dates, the land council and others to carry out ceremonies at the Guardian Tree, today and tomorrow, “when the tree will be taken to a new position”. “I see this as a touch of irony,” Mr Oshlack said, “considering the RTA initially denied the tree was significant to Aboriginal people. “Worimi is quite distraught at this latest news,” he added, and was on his way to the tree yesterday. “People are coming from everywhere.” In the meantime, protesters have climbed the tree and are refusing to come down. They are not objecting to the highway upgrade, only to the route chosen for it, he emphasised. “The chosen route is thoughtless, passing as it does so close to the town, its school and through the Aboriginal significant land. It would have been much better to have chosen the route on the western side of the town.” Mr Oshlack said a “small minority” want the route where it is planned to go, through the wooded slopes of Alum Mountain, and they had made life difficult for protesters. Worimi Dates was the victim of a savage physical assault at the site several months ago, and is also recovering from open heart surgery. The Times understands that although there is footage showing an unruly group at the scene of the assault, no police charges have been laid.

Sacred Tree Chopped Down After Protest

AAP Created: Dec 22, 2009 Last Updated: Dec 23, 2009

SYDNEY—A tree sacred to Aboriginal people on the NSW mid-north coast has been felled after an experienced climber was plucked from its canopy and other protesters were cleared away.
The Guardian Tree at Bulahdelah was cut down on Wednesday afternoon as work proceeds on the
Workers with chainsaws, backed by police, then moved in to cut down the 25m-high old-growth Sydney peppermint tree.
"A lot of distraught people, a lot of tension, a lot of people crying," advocacy network legal representative Al Oshlack told AAP.
"It's almost cultural genocide. There was no need for them to cut that tree down.” [No, nor was there any need to cut down the Birth Tree, the Burial Tree, the Canoe Tree or any of the scar trees, or to excavate around and undermine revered Frog Rock or obliterate the Healing Stream.]
Aboriginal traditional owner Worimi Dates has described the tree as "the most sacred site of the Worimi nation", the advocacy network says. [NB: Even though the tree has been brought down, the SITE is still sacred!!!]
Mr Oshlack said the protesters were not objecting to the highway upgrade, only to the route chosen for it."The whole thing is just gross racism as far as we can see," Mr Oshlack said.

Pacific Highway

's Bulahdelah bypass project.
An experienced climber who made his way high up into the tree two days ago was removed with the use of a cherry-picker before being arrested about midday (AEDT), the Indigenous Justice Advocacy Network says.

Plans for highway to cut through Aboriginal site - Radio National program

During this time of year, something like 20,000 cars a day will pass through the northern NSW town of Bulahdelah, as they drive along the notoriously dangerous

Pacific Highway

. Some will stop for petrol and a hamburger, but very few of them will know that several hundred metres away, a bitter confrontation is continuing over the $150 million plan for the highway bypass.

The NSW Roads and Traffic Authority has plans to build a major cutting through the lower slopes of the adjacent Alum Mountain. They say the bypass is urgently needed to reduce the carnage on one of the worst sections of the

Pacific Highway

. But Aboriginal groups say the mountain has strong cultural significance and the highway should go somewhere else. There's been an Aboriginal tent embassy there for six months, and yesterday they lost their action in the NSW Land and

Environment Court

. Yesterday the roads authority cut down the Guardian Tree, a tree which is claimed to be sacred but is on the bypass route.

Guests: Al Oshlack Indigenous Justice Advocacy Centre

(My own transcript - mb)

RN: At this time of year something like 20,000 cars a day pass through the northern NSW town of Bulahdelah, perhaps without even noticing it as they drive down the notoriously dangerous It must be noted that the Aboriginal Tent Embassy invested a lot of time and energy into saving the mountain – they do not undertake such extensive support lightly, only for the most serious cases of desecration) and yesterday they lost their action in the NSW Land and Environment Court. Also yesterday the roads authority cut down the Guardian Tree, a tree claimed to be sacred that is on the bypass route and with us now is Al Oshlack from the Indigenous Justice Advocacy Network acting for the protesters. Good morning to you Al.

Pacific Highway

. Very few will know that just a few hundred meters away a bitter confrontation is continuing over the $150 million plan for the highway bypass. The NSW Roads and Traffic Authority has plans to build a major cutting through the lower slopes of the adjacent Alum mountain. They say the bypass is urgently needed to reduce the carnage on one of the worst sections of one of the worst highways in Australia. But Aboriginal groups say that the mountain has strong cultural significance and the highway should go somewhere else – there’s been an Aboriginal tent embassy there for 6 months,(

AO: Good morning James – thanks for having me on this show.

RN: My pleasure. Before we get to the courts and the protest, describe this area and why it’s important.

AO: The mountain is forested, and on the mountain there are a lot of significant Aboriginal sites, a number of scar trees, rock crystal ceremonial areas, various artifacts and other places which are secret and sacred to the Worimi people. (Group 1human carcinogen crystalline silica – causes cancer and silicosis – invisible airborne dust? – thousands of people, including 2 schools (around 800 children in all) exposed on a daily basis for 3 years or more, or maybe abrade from the site for ever.)

RN: And what happened in the court yesterday?

AO: The court found that with the Aboriginal Land Council attempting to sell two blocks of land to the RPA for the highway, and the court found they couldn’t make a decision about whether there were any Native Title Rights and interests and they went against the Worimi. One of the Worimi elders was there trying to stop the highway going through.

RN: …and that means the road will go through?

AO: Well we’re running out of options because the sad thing in Australia is that there is no protection of any Aboriginal heritage sites if the political cynics wish to go ahead, particularly in NSW where there’s been systematic destruction of Aboriginal heritage sites. Yesterday was a very, very sad day - a very significant and sacred tree that they knocked down – the tree has a big bowl that comes out of it which looks like a carved head of an Aboriginal woman and there are a number of scars on that three- it is reputed to be a healing tree … the Guardian Tree its called … so it’s a very sad day for Aboriginal people.

RN: …and now what, the tree lies on the ground felled?

AO: Yes it fell to the ground and was chopped into pieces by a chain saw. Yesterday was like the ultimate – not only we lost in the courts but in the federal government also, refused to give it any protection - five times (!!!get details of all ) applications were made to Peter Garrett to give it even some protection, and they wouldn’t even give it protection for a 30 days over the Christmas period while they’re still trying to work out the legal situation.

RN: Are there any objections to this road apart from the Indigenous cultural details?

AO: Oh, amongst the non-Indigenous community there’s a lot of objections to this highway, because there’s a safer, cheaper and shorter option route if they took it round the western side of the town - they’ve refused to do that option, they wanted to go for the more sophisticated engineering option through the mountain and the subsequent destruction of a significant environmental and heritage area.

RN: It sounds like a more expensive option on the basis of what you’ve described.

AO: Exactly, it IS a more expensive option – this is part of the collapse of NSW planning, because they use planning laws now that give no protection to Aboriginal heritage – once the planning approval has gone through, any Aboriginal site that’s in the way can be systematically destroyed without any compensation or any stopping it. (3A legislation – research more)

There’s been four different court cases – there’s challenges to Peter Garrett for not giving protection, there’s challenges to destruction of Aboriginal sites to go ahead without any recourse for Aboriginal people, and yesterday’s court case was about the sale of land that belongs to Aboriginal people - a small clique in the Land Council has gone ahead and sold the land to the RTA. (They had no right or authority to sell that land!!! Can it go back to court?) We were saying that the land had Aboriginal interests protected in the Land Rights Act but the court just threw it out - and there’s a whole legal argument about retrospectivity …… it just becomes a legal complex nightmare and we tried to organise an appeal but yesterday, the way they came in and just knocked that tree down and cut it up - you had the police there racially taunting the elder, calling him ‘half-caste’ and all sorts of terrible names and this man, he’s at the end of it, he’s been bashed and pilloried, he’s gone to the courts, he’s been dragged through the courts himself, he’s done every single thing a person could ask for to protect this heritage site, not only for the Worimi but for Australian people because you can never bring it back, its irreconcilable what’s happened. (Refer UN: Compensation to individuals or from a class action may run into the tens of millions – restoration of environment will cost hundreds of millions…each day the minister delays the cost will increase and the minister, and maybe the prime minister, will be responsible.)

RN: And against all this of course is the paradox that people in Bulahdelah, people all across the coast of NSW, have been calling for decades for improvements to this deadly highway.

AO: Oh look I agree with them – I drive along this highway quite often – no-one is saying not to build a decent highway to cut down the road carnage, but this part of the highway is a bypass through, its not actually out on the open road and we’ve been requesting them to put it on the western side of the town - its safer because putting the highway on the eastern side of the town where the mountain is, is rock, it’s a steep mountain, you know there’s land slides, there’s rock falls, the highway is going to go alongside two of the schools in Bulahdelah; there’s going to be dynamiting and bulldozing while the kids are going to school - its just total madness. Once they get it in their minds, they’re just so politically cynical, they will not listen to any reason (Is this not psychotic behaviour and could a psychiatrist testify in court?) – you just cannot reason with these people and they’ll just destroy and keep destroying these heritage and environmentally significant sites. In NSW its just systematic destruction throughout and what happened yesterday is just the tip of an iceberg. It’s very, very sad.

----------------------------------------------

The following has been taken from: Bulahdelah Bypass A Conglomeration of Atrocities

· h) Heritage & Culture – Wanton Destruction

· i) Wall of Shame – under construction

· j) RTA Violations of Human Rights

· k) Scans of Documents

· l) Message from the Ancestors

· m) The Sacred Guardian- Healing-Tree Memorial Page

· n) NSW – International Criminal Court Material

· o) Flora, Fauna, Old Growth Trees

In Bulahdelah, as is also the case in Tasmania, police have been used to stop Aboriginal people from saving their heritage from destruction.

For months, taxpayers’ monies have been spent on hiring security guards from SNP Security, 11-13 Rodmay Street, Forster (telephone: 61 2 6555 3411) to bar access to traditional and Sacred cultural areas on the Alum Mountain, thereby violating human rights enshrined in UN declarations ratified by Australia.

On Wednesday, 23rd December, 2009, while the Sacred Guardian-Healing-Tree was being massacred, and an SNP security guard sat smirking at the scene, an already anguished elderly Aboriginal man was verbally assaulted and mocked by a gang of police.

A gifted artist whose famous, intensely spiritual carving of the Red Ash at the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens, Raymond Terrace, was inspired by the Guardian-Healing-Tree, the Aboriginal man, Worimi, was sworn at, ridiculed and defamed by public servants paid to uphold the law.

----------------------------------------------------

Later in the afternoon of the 23rd December, reports from witnesses of the brutally corrupt police behaviours were posted at two internet groups. The following morning it was found that relevant messages had been deleted. Some were re-posted and have been copied and saved by group members. They are now all around the world.

The following ‘print screen’ images (transcribed accurately by myself - mb) are of messages posted at the Save the Alum Sacred Mountain, Bulahdelah and the About the Bulahdelah Bypass – the Facts! Facebook groups.

---------------------------------------------------

On March 28 last year, Uncle Worimi Dates, aged 55, flicked on the headlights of his car just after midnight to illuminate seven young men, some carrying cans of Jim Beam, as they strode through gum trees around his camp that he had daubed with land rights flags. One of them king hit him. He fell, unconscious. The others attacked the male students, smashing one in the face and slinging another to the ground. Their mates shouted abuse at the students' girlfriends. "Now he's brought Asians up here," one called.

Pacific Highway

around the town on the mid-North Coast.

-----------------------------------------------------

on 22 December, 2009 at 8.37pm

3.36pm 23^rd December, 2009

Police attending the RTA’s destruction of the sacred Guardian-Healing-Tree have been verbally abusing Worimi and his supporters with racial abuse, other vilification and defamation. One also said to Worimi, “How much Aboriginal have you got in you?” Another replied, “Not much I bet.”

----------------------------------------------------

Deleting our posts RTA will not make this go away

Thu at 9.26am. Comment. Like . Report

I was with Worimi yesterday while they were destroying the Guardian-Healing Tree. Worimi was constantly mocked by the Forster and Taree Police who were present. Worimi was holding an 80-year-old carved stick in his hand; he was asked by one of the cops what it was. Worimi replied “This stick is 80 years old.” The cop laughed and said, “That’s not 80 years old, you just burnt the etchings with a soldering iron.” The same cop, who was short with short blond hair, later went into the bush, picked up a gum tree branch, broke it and said “I wonder if this is 80 years old.”

Worimi was also using his clapsticks - the same cop was mocking him by hitting a plastic water bottle with a stick and whistling. One of the cops formerly from the Bulahdelah area told Worimi to “F**K OFF and go back to where you came from.” This is just a small part of what Worimi had to cope with while being at what he described as a funeral for his Healing-Guardian Tree.

------------------------------------------

Shouting: PLEASE SAVE THIS - a print screen generated image will paste into Word - AND SEND TO FRIENDS OVERSEAS FOR SAFE KEEPING.

This is part of one of my now deleted messages re yesterday’s police corruption:-

From first-hand reports from other witnesses:-

There were about five cops. “All” were harassing and taunting Worimi and *all* were aggressive towards Worimi’s supporters. One (of the cops) was whistling inanely.

A cop from Forster by the name of [name deleted by me…mb] (who grew up in the Bulahdelah area) said to Worimi, “F**k off and go back to where you came from.”

At one stage, one of the cops (I don’t know which one ...YET) turned to one of the other ones and said, “He’s a strange c**t”. All this in front of witnesses!

Thu at 9:40am . Delete

-----------------------------------------------

This came from NEMO, Nimbin Environment Media Office:

Tree cut down and left in pieces, dumped at the Bulah RTA yards, Worimi abused, racial slurs from police and workers, abuse most personal thrown at the supporters, all unnecessary and the offenders should be charged with offensive behaviour. RTA must be held accountable - bad enough already with the desecration of sacred sites, let alone this type of behaviour towards an Elder. Shame RTA!

--------------------------------------

The situation regarding the Guardian- Healing-Tree is that the limbs and top of the trunk were left dumped at the Sacred Site where they were sawn off. The remainder of the trunk, which includes the burl in the form of an Aboriginal woman's head and the two coolum scars, have been dumped on some sort of old platform at the RTA depot at Bulahdelah. This is a yard which is open to the elements, not a shed.

Applications were made for protection of Boolah Dillah (the Great Rock) and the Sacred Sites on the mountain under sections 9, 10 and 12 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984. Sacred Sites listed in the applications are on the Sacred Mountain's mid-slopes and in the path of the RTA's intended new section of

Pacific Highway

. All officially documented archaeological sites on the mountain are also in this area. Despite these and other relevant facts, Peter Garrett chose to take the part of the RTA and falsely claim that only the top of the mountain is significant.

Excerpt from BY-PASSING BULAHDELAH, 360 Radio National Documentary, aired 27.2.10

Bob Higgins, General Manager, Pacific Highway Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW: “When you looked at all the different criteria, on balance this provided the best route for the highway, because it’s just not only about considering where the, in terms of for the highway, where it should go but it also looks at the impacts on the local community and also the environmental aspects of it. [Is he saying that the other options would have been MORE environmentally damaging? That is patently RIDICULOUS!] And uh, for example, the route through the town that we looked at, it had a major impact upon there if we went through the town because uh there’s many businesses, there’s many people that front the existing highway. And for us to straighten it up and have the width for the highway, it would cause a major impact on the town. We did look at going to the west of the town, what’s often referred to as Route A, and also there was a variation of route B, but in terms of that, that had its own problems in terms of it was still going through uh environmentally significant um areas. Uh there was significant Aboriginal issues to the west and uh, and they were raised with us. NB! [Navin Officer Heritage Consultants stated in the Cultural Heritage Component that there were NO ‘significant Aboriginal issues to the west’ , neither were there any environmental concerns – it is cleared land - so it appears that either Bob Higgins was LYING or he had been given false information – even if there were some obscure archaeological findings along the Option A route, NOTHING could be more important than the sacred mountain. Considering this, it does appear that Karuah land council may have been coerced to approve Option E – this possible corruption must be subject to an Inquiry] So, on balance once you look at all these issues, this Route E was found to be the best route, albeit that we have a number of issues that we had to address as part of it.”

It wasn’t until after the RTA announced that Option E would proceed, that the Aboriginal opposition to the project really began. [From my research, it actually began in 2000 when four Aboriginal people attended meetings opposing Option E.] But it didn’t come from traditional Aboriginal organisations – in fact, the Karuah Land Council had no objection to Option E and agreed to sell land it owned on the mountain to the RTA so the road could go through. [I found this unbelievably sad - how could it be that the Land Council does not value this most sacred place, even if they know nothing of its cultural traditions?]

Just when it seemed the project was a fait accompli, Malcolm Carrall’s crusade to stop the road found a powerful ally. He was an Aboriginal elder who called himself Worimi Dates, Worimi being the name for the Aboriginal Nation from the area. Worimi Dates entered the fight against the road, and claimed he’d been entrusted with sacred information about the mountain, about a sacred Guardian Tree, about the Frog Rock and the Healing Stream from his father.

Worimi: “Me father, from his knowledge of this mountain – it’s been passed down to him, and after his death in 1981, became my responsibility. If he’d been alive today, I think he’d be a very upset person. You know the knowledge that he had and the secrecy that he had maintained as to these ancestors – it is my responsibility to keep those secrets. And it’s a total violation of Aboriginal rights to protect sacred sites. This is just one of them, of thousands right around Australia. It is the creation place of our country. And just like within the white-man’s Australia, it has seven states, Aboriginal Australia has probably about 190 countries within it. Worimi is a country and within Worimi we have 11 states and this place is like, just like, our Canberra, just like Canberra is the Capital of Australia, well this place is the Capital of Worimi.”

For me it was a case of a means to an end. I didn’t want the road to go through so I supported Worimi and Malcolm. I had no idea about the true Aboriginal significance of the mountain, but living right next to it, I couldn’t believe that it didn’t play a major part in the local stories. [There is plenty of autonomously written historical documentation regarding the Aboriginal history of Bulahdelah – including that the Aboriginal people of the area named the township after their mountain, Boolah Dillah. Even my Road * Atlas quotes: On the ]

Pacific Highway

, Bulahdelah is the main aquatic gateway to the splendours of the Myall Lakes and is surrounded by water, bush and mountain scenery. The word ‘Bulahdelah’ has seen 13 different spellings since the original ‘boola-deela’, which comes from Kattang, language of the ‘Worimi’, ancestral inhabitants of the Great Lakes. It means ‘place beneath the mountain where the two rivers meet’; the rivers are the Myall and the Crawford. (It actually means ‘the Great Rock’ – ref. HMR Rupp, The Orchid Man by Lionel Gilbert…mb) - The Worimi people named the township after their mountain, calling it ‘Boola Dilla town'

And when I met up with some people from the Tent Embassy, I discovered they were just like me. The opposition to the road was based more on raw emotion than anything else. [Debatable - the ancient and profound knowledge and gnosis of the Aboriginal custodians cannot be seen as simply ‘raw emotion’! .. and an issue that can cause such deep and profound emotions in people usually means it is seriously significant.]

Kevin Carter is the President of the Bulahdelah Historical Society, and a long-time local resident. He knows as much as any non-Aboriginal person possibly could about the mountain, as well as the 19^th century mining history when alum from Bulahdelah found its way to Manchester, England for use in textile production.

KC: Elders that would carry out Aboriginal law would have in fact occupied the top part of the mountain particularly [Is this why Garrett said/thought only the top was sacred? Did MB have anything to do with that in her report? Does the barrister have the right to use their own discretion as to what representations are sent to the minister, or do they just write the report without needing to send the actual representations? We don’t even know if Garrett received the dvd – but how can he make an informed decision without it? Wouldn’t that be withholding evidence?] and these caves would have been important … we know of bora grounds, which is ceremonial grounds, and that is a great place because one, you’re on a landscape that looks to the sea and but also from a male perspective that would have been where you could observe any restricted people coming towards you. So if you want to carry out important and sacred ceremonies, that would be a great location. So I would have said without a doubt that it is culturally significant. There’s a bit of dispute now on how culturally significant the base of the mountain is, [WHO exactly disputed it? The KLC?] but certainly no-body, and I mean nobody disputes the cultural significance of the upper levels of the mountain itself. Overall you’ve got to say as a piece of landscape it’s got highly significant value from an Aboriginal perspective.

Then you’ve got, as I’ve just explained, the European heritage which is unique to Australia. And we as a society don’t profess to know all the ins and outs of how they processed it, we’ve found a bit of material and we’re certainly in the process of sharing that with RTA but we’re trying to say, wow, you’re going right through, the footprints going right through where there are potentially blacksmith shops and there’s a crucible, people don’t understand how they did that power star? Did they put it in an industrial sized bowl? Did they fire it with wood? All that sort of stuff … and to give RTA their due they're saying well give us the archaeology and we’ll look at it all and we’ll try and interpret. And also we start to get into a philosophical mode of the town’s here and that’s our backdrop - do we really need a 6-lane highway separating us from this landscape unit that connects us to the river? And also historically as in contemporary history, everybody that’s ever lived, as a young lad, girl or boy, goes up the mountain for an adventure - we may not do it as couch potatoes today but certainly I’m sure even in my family, the kids have gone up there .. its relatively ... well is it safe or not safe, but you’re not crossing a 6-lane highway to achieve it, and I believe that seriously detracts from the quality of life as we see it as a small community.”

RC: “My name’s Robert Corowa and I’m from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy and we are over here because of all the destruction to our sacred sites. We have an obligation, as a member of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, to defend Aboriginal people and their sites."

LC: “What can you tell me about the significance of the Bulahdelah Mountain?”

An Aboriginal person: “Well I don’t know much about it, I’m from the Bundjalung, I’m from up north but my brother here William, he can tell you ... what he knows.”

LC: “Are you from round here?”

Brother: “Well my mother’s from Worimi nation and this is meant to be her tribal land. I grew up in Toronto area and I’m just here on behalf of my mother and grandmother, because of the significance to them.”

LC: “What can you tell me about its significance?”

Brother: “Honestly, I don’t really know because I grew up in the suburbs – I grew up with more white influence. Only for these last few years I’ve started getting into the culture and I just wanted to come up here and learn, see what I can learn from the mountain, what it can teach me." [He and many Aboriginal people in his situation, brought up in the whiteman’s culture, will never get the opportunity to learn about his rightful inheritance if culturally significant places are destroyed - it’s a tragedy that need not be happening - ALL identified sacred sites must be fully protected in perpetuity, and every person who identifies as Indigenous should have the opportunity to live on or simply connect with their homelands]

In their bid to save the mountain, Worimi and Malcolm Carrall appealed to Environment Minister Peter Garrett, who agreed that while the upper sections of the mountain had cultural significance, the lower slopes did not, and so the road could go ahead. [UNBELIEVABLE – Even if that WAS true, as if a dual carriage way and related infrastructures just meters from such an iconic site would have no impact on the place as a whole! Would it be ok to put a 6-lane highway at the foot of Uluru? It is a SACRED PRECINCT. It is to his eternal shame that he allowed the guardian tree and all the other heritage trees to be felled - now he must step in, even at this late stage, and stop this by-pass route from going ahead. It has been reported that Garrett’s Director of Indigenous Heritage East, Dr. David Collett, who was present at Worimi’s court appeal on Tuesday, 2^nd March, 2010, was witnessed frequently laughing when Worimi’s lawyer, Al Oshlack, made points. If this is true, it is an absolute outrage that such a disrespectful person could have so much influence over this critically important decision.]

Worimi: “Peter Garrett should have showed respect before he made a decision, and spoke to me. I was quite willing if he would have wanted me to come down to his office, it could have been done in a confined space. He chose not, but to listen to his advisers (WHO WERE THEY? WHAT EXACTLY DID THEY ADVISE HIM?) who were advised by the Aboriginal land rights. I think that’s very unfair. And if he would have taken that time, you know, just to come to Bulahdelah and listen to a few words I could have said to him, there would have been a different opinion about where the road was actually going to go.”

The spiritual significance – it’s not just a mountain. You know, Bulahdelah there are many mountains but they are just what they are – mountains. But these mountains are formed by the Ancestral Spirit, Woo-roo-bung, which is the lizard. He is the image of our creator; he is the rock form that lays up there waiting for the next point of creation. And the Guardian Tree plays its part, the Frog plays its part, and the respect of our people – the elders held the ceremonies here. It was a place of worship, a place of, of knowledge, and a place of our rebirth, of our belief in reincarnation. And the Guardian Tree, the Tree of Birth and the Burial Tree, all form a circle within 50 meters and they all played a part in the creation, in the knowledge of Woo-roo-bung. No other mountain is more spiritual in strength of creation than this place.” [Worimi actually recorded the creation story on a dvd, which was sent in to Madeline Brennan’s office along with other applications, with injunctions not to publicise any of the secret/sacred information it contained. We have no idea whether Minister Garrett actually received this dvd. A transcription of it has been made, currently the subject of court proceedings]

Bob Higgins, RTA: “In terms of the Aboriginal issues, it’s like a lot of issues that uh, that we do face on our highway projects, and we do investigate them and look at them in detail and we consult heavily, right through the route selection phase, right through the environmental assessment phase, and it’s STILL as ongoing as we go through the detailed design and construction phase. So, we’ve consulted heavily with them, uh and particularly the Aboriginal groups and there’s varying views within the groups themselves and uh what’s important is for us to understand those varying views and uh it’s fair to say as well as that, is this that the wider Aboriginal groups were supportive of this route compared to the routes further to the west." [Demonstrably not! It appears that the Aboriginal ‘groups’ who met with the RTA consisted of a few Karuah land council executives, two Aboriginal men who made it clear that they didn’t know anything about the mountain but guessed that the top might be important, four Aboriginal people who attended meetings opposing Option E and a cousin of Worimi’s. On the other hand, the Option A area has no identified genuine indigenous artefacts or history!]

The protesters took legal action in the NSW Lands and . [How is this finding even possible after hearing the overwhelming mass of evidence?]

Environment Court

claiming that the Karuah Land Council acted improperly when it sold land to the RTA. The court ruled against the protesters in December

Despite these losses, Malcolm Carrall is not giving up, and neither is Worimi Dates. For myself, I confess that I hope that the rest of Australia is only just beginning to hear the story about Bulahdelah and the by-pass and Alum Mountain.

LC: “Do you think you can still win? Do you think the mountain can still be saved? Are you still going to continue to fight it?”

Worimi: “Yes I’m going to continue till the road’s there. I’m going to continue even if it kills me. Or even if these people in the town want to kill me, you know? There’s three very sacred trees, they’re gone. It is now come to saving Mother Earth, the place where those trees were born. You know, those trees, the roots of the trees, the seeds of the trees … they can still re-grow, but once they go and put that road there, which I say is a track to the devil’s den… You know, everything what’s been sacred for time immemorial is now gone, but I’m gonna keep fighting.”

[The following interview regarding the felling of the Guardian Tree, exemplifies the mindset of the RTA ]

Bob Higgins interview on SBS Radio

Wednesday, 6^th January, 2010 radio interviews:

SBS National Aboriginal Program broadcast of Wednesday, 6^th January, 2010

Reporter: Valerie Bichard

(Verbatim transcription privately typed - my comments in italics......mb)

Valerie Bichard: Now running alongside the story from Tasmania, regular listeners to the program will know that we’ve been following another controversial highway project in northern New South Wales. Two days before Christmas a sacred Guardian Tree was cut into pieces by the Road Transport Authority, New South Wales, to allow work to proceed on the woman [Incorrect - a protuberant section of the tree was in the shape of a head of an Aboriginal woman.] was put into the RTA depot at Bulahdelah. The spokesperson for the local Aboriginal Land Council in the area, and the Chair of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council, Bev Manton, at the time told SBS that she wouldn’t be making any comments about the issue. Over to Bob Higgins, the RTA’s General Manager in charge of the Pacific Highway upgrade in the area, who has agreed to speak with us on the program to try and clear up some of the confusion around the issue of what will now happen to the remains of the Guardian Tree.

Pacific Highway

’s Bulahdelah Bypass project. On the day the tree was cut down a section of the tree, depicting a face of an Aboriginal

Bob Higgins: Under that approval, is a condition which requires us at the RTA to, um, remove the uh Guardian Tree in consultation with the local Aboriginal council and DEC [DECCW – the NSW Department of Environment Climate Change and Water, a subsidiary of the NSW Dept. of Planning] to salvage it uh and then relocate it at an appropriate place in, Mountain Park.

VB: Now let me get this right. Did the local Aboriginal Land Council approve the removal of the tree?

BH: Uh, the Department of Planning removed the uh, uh gave the approval but we were required to consult very closely with the local councils.

VB: And the local Aboriginal Council didn’t think that the tree was of any sacred Aboriginal significance?

BH: Uh what, er, it on the day that we removed the tree, and I was there on that morning, on the Wednesday before Christmas, u-um, er, they were asked if they wanted to undertake a ceremony just prior to the removal and they said to us, “No,” they did not wish to undertake a ceremony because uh they didn’t believe the tree was of significance. [What they actually said was that they didn’t know whether the tree was of significance because they were not the tribal custodians of that site! Why weren’t the true custodian consulted?]

VB: And yet a portion of that tree that was cut off and put into the RTA depot there at Bulahdelah - for what purpose?

BH: Uh, well, need to understand that there’s varying views about the significance of the tree; there’s some that don’t believe its significance, obviously there’s others that do believe its significance. And what we’ve been trying to do is be respectful of everyone and sensitive to everyone’s issues, and, uh, we have a requirement by the Department of Planning so what we’ve done is um er taken part of the tuck, hih, part of the trunk of the tree and uh we’ve put it er in our depot at Bulahdelah where at some appropriate time uh we will work with the local council and others to uh position it in Mountain Park, in the nearby Mountain Park.

VB: If the local Aboriginal Council didn’t think the tree was of any significance, why is it that they want that portion of the tree set aside for a monument?

BH: Obviously, I, I can’t speak for the local Aboriginal council. Um all I can say is as I said earlier is if we have a requirement to salvage part of the tree and to work with them and uh we’ve tried to do that in uh a very respectful way with everyone involved.

VB: It appears what’s happened here is that you’ve got an Elder in the local community who obviously has the stories and the connection to the Guardian Tree and the surrounding areas, and yet somehow, something has not worked in this process of negotiation.

BH: Wuh, can I just sort of, we started looking at a highway route for Bulahdelah way back in the early two thousands. And of course, not only did we look at this route, which was just to the east of the town, we looked at a route through the town and also to the west of the town. And, once we looked at this issue and other issues we found um this was, on balance, the best location to put the highway but once we work out where it is we then try and look at the issue in more detail to see if we can avoid these areas of, of what are perceived as being significant impacts and in terms of the, this particular tree, the difficulty we had is with all the other constraints that we’ve had, ar, for the highway we couldn’t actually shift the highway to avoid the tree, um, because of other threatened species [HE ADMITS IT!!!! What were the ‘other issues’?] and all these other issues that we had. But we, what wuh I just send a message that get across is uh we do look at this very clearly and then after we got project approval there was a number of legal challenges and also applications made under the Federal Act and we just didn’t move in and start ermm remo – (giggle) [Bob Higgins giggles at this point] ving the trees, um, what we did was work them through um and ah put our position, they put their position and it went through the various courts ’n’ that and those applications were either dismissed or declined, so.

VB: Well maybe something has worked in Worimi’s favour here in that someone has decided that the tree, even though it’s not sacred, is sacred. And it’s starting to sound a little bit like a Monty Python skit here. Now, from an Aboriginal perspective, it may sound brutal to chop down the Guardian Tree in that way, and then take the most sacred part of that tree and put it on show for everyone to see. Can you understand how that may be perceived by certain parts of the Aboriginal community?

BH: I do understand what you’re saying and it’s obviously you’re, we must do this in a very sensitive way now how pends and this is in your words to how it goes on show and if it’s deemed that it doesn’t do that, then what we need to put it in some appropriate place we’re more than happy to work through with it. At the moment all we’ve done is, is, is uh in terms of the tree trunk, the main part of the tree trunk, we’ve actually picked it up with a crane as sensitively as we can [Refer to Appendix as to how ‘sensitive’ the felling crew and attending police were to Worimi and his supporters. When the big ‘wash-up’ comes, people will be ASTOUNDED at how unbelievably asinine and incompetent the NSW RTA truly are! They may even draw the conclusion that the wholesale destruction of our priceless heritage being perpetrated by the RTA all along the NSW coast, in particular related to the 3A amendment, was a deliberate agenda …] and keep it intact and put it away above the ground in a location, so that we can work through with everyone involved on a, an appropriate location to put it. In terms of the rest of the tree, a lot of that is still on the land and it’s in a certain location and we’re more than happy to sit through, an’ an’ work that through with people on what we do with that.

VB: It appears here that Worimi is the only person in the story who believes that the tree is of any significance in terms of its sacredness. What would Worimi need to do to reclaim those portions of the tree so that he could then perform his Aboriginal sacred ceremonial rites?

BH: Uh, in terms of that, I’d be more than happy for me to come down and meet with Worimi on the site and we can work through the, the, the issue rather, in terms of how we go about that. Obviously we have a condition of approval we’re gotta work through but obvious, there’s ways through that to be able to do it. We’re more than happy to sit down and have a talk to Worimi.

VB: That was Bob Higgins, who is the RTA’s General Manager in charge of the Pacific Highway Upgrade in Bulahdelah. [Anyone will agree that Bob Higgins risible, garbled responses were virtually unintelligible – an atrocious and shameful performance for a general manager.] You’re listening to the National Aboriginal Program. Meanwhile, Uncle Worimi Dates, whose family and supporters are still understandably devastated by what they claim is a desecration of an Aboriginal sacred site. And this is what Uncle Worimi had to say in response to Bob Higgins:-

Worimi: I’ve been trying to talk to that man, and some of his other people within the RTA, and none of them have really tried to sit down and talk to me about it. Now this is the first time that that man has said he’s gonna come and see me and try and work it out. All I can say is, the Land and

Environment Court

, the High Court, they’ve all supported the RTA. They’ve supported the NSW Land Council. They’ve supported the Karuah Land Council. They’ve all worked together and denied me my rights to protect an Aboriginal sacred site, which I, and I alone, have that right - nobody else, not Karuah, not the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. Now I’ll remind you that it was not I that failed to protect an Aboriginal sacred site, it is the New South Wales Government in the High Court of Australia. Nothing has changed in just over two hundred and twenty years; they’re still doing the ‘we own this land’ thing when they don’t own nothin’. It is all about bringing about the destruction of Aboriginal sacred sites in this country and that’s why they become equal to a white man, y’know. What they've destroyed up there..... there’s not too many people today that want to follow tribal laws, y’know, tribal councils. The government set up the Aboriginal Land Rights Act to control Aboriginal people, to control their religion. What they’ve destroyed here was a religious place. Y’know, it’s like a blackfella church in the bush. They’ve taken away that place where Aboriginal people can go. Every tribe in Australia’s got a special place where they practise their tribal beliefs.

VB: It’s a very difficult situation as to how to move forward and I know that what you’re hearing today is the first time that you’ve actually heard Mr. Higgins from the RTA speaking in this particular way.

W: You know, Higgins was here about two and a half year ago. I asked if I had no further avenue to fight to protect the Aboriginal sacred sites in Bulahdelah - I would like all the tree, you know, the branches, the leaves, all the little sticks off the end of the root system and the whole trunk. And he promised that I could have that. That bloke gave promises; they sent me an invitation to go there, on the day, and then denied me my rights to go down and do what they promised me, and that was that they would save the whole tree, not cut its head off and put it on public exhibition, y’know. That’s a total mockery of Aboriginal culture, not just in my tribe but in Aboriginal Australia; beheading of Aboriginal people, Aboriginal ancestral spirits. In other words, what they’ve done here is now showing that ‘we’ can now go ahead and just take away from Aboriginal people anything what we want.

VB: That was Uncle Worimi Dates from Bulahdelah in Northern [Mid coast] New South Wales.

Statements made by the RTA reveal a level of hypocrisy rarely reached by a government department:

RTA tries to avoid impacting cultural site

Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:24am AEST

The Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) says it will try to ensure its A group of Aboriginal activists has been fighting to protect Alum Mountain from the highway bypass project. The protesters claim heavy machinery is being moved onto the site before the Commonwealth makes a decision on its cultural significance. The RTA's Pacific Highway general manager, Bob Higgins, rejects that but says avoiding areas of significance will be a priority once work does proceed.

Pacific Highway

upgrade at Bulahdelah does not harm land deemed sacred by Aborigines.

"Why we've done a lot of work early is to talk to people and to understand what the issues are," he said. "Once we understand what those issues are we work to see what we can do to accommodate it. Obviously to avoid it but if we can't avoid it then to minimise the impacts as much as possible."

[xx][xx] The Healing stream, that Worimi states was integral to the young men’s circumcision ceremony, has been completely destroyed, covered over by earthworks when the new road for the power-line corridor was being bulldozed – a vey narrow pipe was run under the road but I am informed that the water has stopped flowing.

Recent scientific evidence has validated Worimi Dates assertions that the water is healing in "Energising Water" by John Wilkes from the Healing Water Research Institute (in Sussex, England) who, since 1975, has been developing an 'eco-technological system' based on nature's subtle metamorphic resonance and rhythmic processes. Their Flowform design (copyright) which incorporates the figure 8, mimics the rhythmic movement of cascading water through the natural environment. The institute has provided scientific proof of the benefits and efficacy of this water, after demonstrating that seedling and root growth is greatly enhanced with 'Flowform' treated water, with observed improvements connected to lunar phases and other cosmic influences.

[xxi][xxi] The numerous plants traditionally used by Aboriginal people include rare and threatened species, such as: Acacias, Brackens, Dianella, Grasstrees, Native Fig Trees (incl. rare), Wonga Wonga vine, Lilly Pilly, Banksias, Stringy Barks, Paperbarks, Smooth Barked Apple trees, Iron Barks, Geebung, Native Hibiscus, Native Raspberry, Native Cherry, Native Gooseberry, Native Violets, Native Apple (B. scandens), Native Cotton, Wombat Berry, Mosses (incl. Sphagnum Moss – possibly at its easternmost extremity – ref. personal comment, Dr. Kingsley Dixon), Native Mint (incl. rare) and *Native Orchids with edible tubers. And Rachel Henning’s rock-lilies, which were Dendrobiums speciosum and kingianum, and possibly D. kestevenii, which were used for both food and medicine.

These traditionally used plants can be viewed from all of the mountain’s walking trails.

[xxiii][xxiii] From:

PACIFIC HIGHWAY

(

STATE HIGHWAY NO.

10) Bulahdelah – Coolongolook Deviation Environmental Impact Statement WORKING PAPERS September 1990:-

· Pages 18 and 19 – GEOLOGY

… Within the Bulahdelah area there are numerous sources for stone materials suitable for manufacturing flaked stone tools. The Alum Mountain Volcanics [Bulahdelah Mountain] are just 3 km south of the west end of the road route and include rhyolite, conglomerate, basalt, dacite, andesite and tuff.

… Most of the artefacts recorded during the present survey are of fine- to medium-grained grey siliceous materials. These may have a volcanic origin, since similar materials were noted by the author near the picnic area at Bulahdelah Mountain. A few large artefacts [sic] [e.g. scrapers at site 3] were made on a distinctive, flecked, grey-green-red-black volcanic material.

· Page 41 – Description:

… Twenty-eight artefacts were recorded. These are predominantly of grey fine-grained and medium-grained siliceous materials, some of which may have come from the Bulahdelah Mountain area about 4 km south-west of the site.

· Page 53 – From 8.2 Types of sites

SHELTER SITES

… It should be noted that large boulders do occur along the side of Bulahdelah Mountain, and the possibility of habitable shelters occurring there should not be discounted. [From page 4.8 of the Umwelt AP Report: ‘several rock shelters visible on the upper slopes’ of the mountain.]

· Page 54 – QUARRIES

… As noted in Section 4.1 a variety of volcanic and other stone materials occur at Bulahdelah Mountain, along Meyers Range 2.5km south of and 4km north of the proposed road route, and between Bulahdelah Mountain and Meyers Flat …

· Page 55 [scanned copy available on page 27 of this Section 10 Representation]

8.3 [ARCHAEOLOGICAL] Significance of the Sites

The results of the present survey are of considerable archaeological importance, as very few open sites [scatters of stone artefacts] have been recorded in the forested ranges of the NSW North Coast.

[xxiv][xxiv] Documentation of the Aboriginal camp in the area identified by Cynthia Dates.: “In front of me is another window looking into the veranda, and from it I can see as I sit a rose-tree covered with blossom, and then down the paddocks to the river, lying dark and still under the trees on the opposite bank. The blacks have an encampment there now, and I can see them moving about their boats, which are moored to the bank.” From the letters of Rachel Henning, written between 1853 and 1882 [Trees planted by her are still standing and should be heritage listed too]

In stark contrast, the PPK/RTA report – "

Pacific Highway

, Bulahdelah Upgrade – Route Options, Indigenous Heritage Report stated: - Option A would have no direct or potential indirect impacts on any significant indigenous heritage item.

[xxv][xxv] Rachel Henning’s 17th October letter tells us that, without even climbing the mountain’s highest peak, the view to be had from the top was of the river, the lakes and sea and that waves could be seen ‘breaking on the Port Stephens Head’. No other mountain in the area provides such a lookout point. It may very well have been used as a signaling post, as most of the highest peaks in a landscape were utilised by Aboriginal people. The southern end of the mountain’s summit also provided lookout points with views to the west and north- and south-west.

[xxvi][xxvi] The Yuin people suffered a similar, if not far less devastating experience with authorities, when forestry logged trees at the base of their sacred mountain, a power and learning site of identical significance as Bula Dilla. It is an example of the kind of due respect ‘Aboriginals’ should be accorded for their cultural heritage:

Excerpt from MY PEOPLE’S DREAMING by Max Dulumunmun Harrison – An Aboriginal Elder speaks on life, land, spirit and forgiveness

SONGLINES: “The songlines are such an important part of our mental and spiritual structure. They are lines of energy that run between places, animals and people. We know at times where the songlines are and we like to follow them for the energy, not only because we can send a message to other neighbouring tribes but so we can keep in touch with animal and bird life. We follow the songlines of the animals to know where they are and to see if they have moved on. If they have moved on then we can start a burn off to create more life without hurting the animals.

Just a year after the handback of Gulaga and Biamanga to the Yuin people, forestry went in and cut trees down and disrupted the sacred songlines. When I tried to tell them they shouldn’t do that because it cut the direct line of teaching, it was disregarded. Forestry just overruled it and they persuaded some Yuin people to give the go-ahead. I was disgusted to even think that some of our mob wouldn’t listen; they know the story of the two sisters and our cultural ways and how it is told up on that mountain. (This is exactly what happened with the Worimi and the Karuah Land Council who had absolutely no authority to speak on their behalf, or to sell the sacred land to the RTA so that it could be destroyed.)

People can’t understand about the sacredness and those songlines, those Dreaming lines. They say cutting trees down at the base of the mountain is not touching the sacred sites up top, but they don’t understand about the short circuiting of the spiritual connectedness from one place to the other. As you know, when you drive around the country with your talking sticks – your mobile phones – you can get into what you call dead spots, the spots where you are cut off. That is what these people have done in coercing my mob, who don’t know the deeper part of the story where the Dreaming travels to. They have cut the songlines. People cannot understand Aboriginal spiritual connectedness and the lines of connectedness. We have heard the comment before, how ‘we’re not logging up on the mountain’. I say, yes, but the base is the strength, how do you think a mountain becomes a mountain? It comes from the bottom up and peaks at the top. If you haven’t got a strong base, then you can’t stand up.

In my 70 and more years, I have never been to the summit on Gulaga. There is no need for me to go that far – my teachings are on that saddle (ridge). So one day when I’m about 80 I might take a toddle up there and take a look at the view. You see I’ve never looked at the view from Gulaga, I’ve only looked at the stories that she offered me, only drunk in the spiritual energy that she served to me and only taken the wisdom that was offered to me.

There is plenty in that library up there, it is the text of the land. The library is open, it has its own dictionary to explain the languages spoken there. It has all those wonderful gifts for us to borrow, […we are all just temporary tenants of the land!] so we can pass them on. And that’s what we must do with our gifts of knowledge when we come down from Gulaga. We must give them away to keep them – and that tells us that we will return to Gulaga, that the mountain will call us back.

Gulaga was never a place to camp or just to visit. As soon as you step up into that sacred are there is no hunting or gathering, not even eating. Clap once as you enter and again when you leave for each person and wear a red headband to show respect for its greatness. It is the place of creation. Take nothing except for its knowledge."

GULAGA MOUNTAIN AND THE CREATION DREAMING: “When we walk onto Gulaga Mountain we walk into sacredness. Every time I go there it gives me a spiritual uplifting and I learn more about how our people were created. I realise how important it is that I show Gulaga to as many different people as I can and explain our Creation Story so our heritage is not ignored. I never tire of going to Gulaga.”

SACRED ROCKS: Rainbow Serpent Rock – who went underground and created all the rivers. The story of the Rainbow Serpent is common to all Aboriginal tribes. First Rock of Connectedness, the Creation Rock or Energy Rock – Ngardi – Tunku – the rock and the tree that Daramah gave Ngardi and Tunku. Next in the Creation Story are three rocks that sit on top of each other. The first one on the bottom represents where we come from, that we come from the land. The next one that sits on top of it tells us where we are now. The third one is a tall one pointing toward the heavens, and it shows us that’s where we go when our spirit leaves our body and passes into the next world. But the middle is the one that is important for us. It shows us we’re between love and hate, that we’re between hot and cold, that we’re between hunger and fullness, between evil and greatness. It shows us and tells us how important it is to live each day at a time. (…and to keep everything sustainable, an incredibly sophisticated and delicate balancing act that the land’s Aboriginal custodians have been perfecting and adapting for overt 60,000 years...mb) These rocks are one of the most valuable things about Gulaga to me. When I am in trouble in my mind, body or spirit, my mind goes straight to these rocks. They show me where I come from, where I am now and where I am going to in the spirit world. Pregnant Woman Rock – beside that mother is another little rock which is one of the nurses, or helpers for that pregnancy, the ‘midwife’ you would call her in English terms. And around that little rock were some plants that helped with childbirth and pregnancy. But someone showed some people those particular beautiful little plants, told them about them and then the plants were taken – probably to be grown somewhere else for profit. The Teaching Rock - where you can look down and see all the totems below you.The Birthing Rock - The Boori Rock Whale Rock – Can you see him breaching? This rock signifies the whale coming up out of the water to spread his lore so we can understand more about the sea. - Shark Rock - Dugong Rock When I show people from other Aboriginal tribes these totems they almost fall off the Teaching Rock in surprise because they have these totems in their Dreaming too. This shows how connected we are with other people of the northern waters. (…and indeed, with every other Aboriginal nation…through the migration route network….mb)

Max Dulumunmun Harrison, or Uncle Max, as he’s widely known, is an Elder of the Yuin people, who lived throughout the south coast of NSW. He has been sharing his cultural knowledge for over 30 years and has taken over 6000 people from all walks of life onto country, explaining Aboriginal ways and the intricate understandings of the environment. [He, and all traditional tribal edlers, should take the politicians who make decisions on affairs concerning them. I believe Worimi should send out invitations to relevant ministers and media to visit Bulahdelah and experience the sacred mountain through his eyes, just as Max does. Even if there’s no hope of them turning up, it might generate more publicity to save the mountain.]

My People’s dreaming is a rare personal insight into Yuin teachings, and is drawn from extensive interviews with Uncle Max. Photos by: petermcconchie@iprimus.com.au

PO Box 2277

, St. Kilda West, VIC, 3182 Ph: 0419 898 777

[xxvii][xxvii] “It is believed many sacred sites exert influences that radiate out from their central features. Thus, Aboriginal people would argue that not only the specific features need protection but also large areas of land around the sites. Influence and potential harm for indiscretion decrease as one moves away from sites but particularly powerful ones will exert their force over considerable distance, for example the Jawoyn's country associated with Bula sites.” from the Griffith University REVIEW Edition 9, 2005- an essay entitled 'Chains of Connection' by Paul Tacon.

The minister should realise that the Worimi people have EVERY RIGHT to claim not only the mountain as sacred ground, but its sphere of influence all around and the songline corridors that converge on it. Although it is only the mountain footprint and one site on the river that the Worimi are currently calling to be listed as a Heritage Site, a larger sphere of protection may well be called for in future applications.

[xxviii][xxviii] PS: John Blay – Please help stop this horrendous desecration striking at the very of heart and soul of Worimi country, a major initiation site and healing place. What they have already done is horrific enough, but what they intend is simply unthinkable. The

Bundian Way

sounds fantastic - yours is a blueprint for all the trade routes and songlines. I hope you can help Worimi Dates set up such corridors around the Bulahdelah sacred mountain precinct. (John Blay responded saying he would do all he could.)

World at Polarity

Wednesday, 13 July 2011

Some crucial information re the Ancestral Creator Being 'Bula'