Environment Department wants to interview The Advertiser journalists over people who cleared land for Marree Man
FORGET our polluted rivers, the Port Augusta ash cloud or wild dogs killing sheep. SA’s Environment Department is instead squandering its resources on targeting an iconic Outback tourist drawcard.
- Return of the mysterious giant Marree Man in the desert
- Bureaucrats launch criminal investigation into Marree Man restoration
- Native title feud could be reason for Marree Man investigation
FORGET the ash cloud over Port Augusta, the pollution clogging our rivers, rubbish desecrating our national parks and wild dogs slaughtering our sheep.
The Environment department has turned its steely gaze on a couple of pub owners who helped return the iconic Marree Man to its former glory — and now it wants to interrogate Advertiser journalists about what they know.
The department, headed by Environment Minister Ian Hunter, has threatened to compel four journalists and photographers who covered the return of the Marree Man to submit to individual interviews, as part of its investigation into whether vegetation was cleared unlawfully during the restoration.
In an email to The Advertiser, Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources compliance officer Andrew Burnell said he would be “pleased to take those statements voluntarily, or if preferred, I could ‘require’ those individuals to answer questions”.
South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon said the restoration was a bold step to “breathe life into a region needing support” and he accused the department of smothering the tourism drawcard with “petty bureaucracy”.
The two pub owners who masterminded the restoration, Phil Turner and Trevor Wright, were also served with warrants demanding copies of all emails and correspondence about their plan.
Work to restore the famous 4.5km geoglyph in the form of an Aboriginal warrior — first spotted by a bush pilot in 1998 — was completed over five days in late August last year after the image faded, making it almost impossible to spot from the air.
Tourist flights over the area had been wound back in 2010 due to its deterioration, and the image was no longer visible on Google Maps shortly before it was rejuvenated.
Surveyors plotted the course of the original image in a buggy, before a grader cut 10cm into the ground to highlight the figure.
Mr Turner told The Advertiser in August that he hadn’t sought Government permission to restore it, but had consulted heavily with Native Title holder, the Arabana Aboriginal Corporation.
He said he took extra care to follow the exact path of the initial etching and do “justice” to it.
“What we didn’t want to do is do a different type of image. This was about respecting the creator’s original work,” he said last year.
The geoglyph has courted controversy since it first appeared 19 years ago, due to its sheer size and the mystery of the unknown artist who created it.
The complaint is believed to have originated from a local indigenous group called the Arrabuna, who hold Native Title over Marree, but not the neighbouring area where the artwork is located.
The Environment Department has previously rejected requests to reveal who made the complaint about the Marree Man’s restoration.
Senator Xenophon said it was “completely ridiculous” the department was taking action over an attempt to bring thousands of tourists to the Outback.
“Is this what taxpayers money is being spent on, to investigate people over a tourism icon?”, Senator Xenophon said.
“Why doesn’t the department spend time doing something useful instead of this nonsense. How about concentrating on stopping dumping in our oceans and rivers.”
REAL ISSUES TO FOCUS ON ...
■ Reserves, creeks and rivers smothered in more than 6000 tonnes of illegally dumped waste
■ Suburban roads turned into swimming pools as 3991 water mains burst in 2016 — with Adelaide gushers at a six-year high
■ Environmental officers forced to set up health clinics after Port Augusta residents choked under a dust cloud created after the power station’s closure
■ An “explosion” in wild dogs terrorising rural sheep stations, with 55 caught at just two stations since last November
■ Swimmers repeatedly forced to stay away from popular Adelaide beaches after pollution flooded our pristine waterways
