TMR, protesters to clash over fate of ‘Gympie Pyramid’ site

The State Government has issued a warning to protesters at the historic site known as the ‘Gympie Pyramid’ as a ruling on whether it be declared a ‘significant’ Aboriginal site and the planned Bypass route moved, looms.

An expected clash over the “Gympie Pyramid” or “Djaki Kundu” site at Rocky Ridge has been postponed for now but campers and activists at the site have been warned they are there “at their own risk”.

Claims on social media that Transport and Main Roads would restart work Thursday on the $1 billion Gympie Bypass, which protesters say will impact the land, have been refuted by a department spokesman who said work would “not begin on or before September 30”.

However, the spokesman didn’t rule out the resumption of work in the near future.

“We have agreed to suspend works at the Rocky Ridge (or) Gympie Pyramid site until 30 September, or until Federal Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley makes her determination on whether the … site is a significant Aboriginal area under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984,” he said.

Ms Ley’s decision is still pending.

A spokesman for the Federal Environment Department said the independent section 10 report had been received and it, along with information from all parties, would be “carefully considered in making a final decision in the coming month”.

Ms Ley was asked in January to intervene and protect the site by issuing an emergency declaration under the Act.

The request was refused in May as Ms Ley was “not satisfied that the area is a ‘significant Aboriginal area’ for the purposes of the ATSIHP Act”.

No clearing or work on the bypass is to be done in a protected section, of the Rocky Ridge site, but protesters say the highway still needs to be moved further east.

Protesters fighting to protect the Rocky Ridge site have issued several calls to arms on social media in the past month ahead of the expected resumption of works.

These included claims TMR planned to begin work on September 30 “regardless of what Sussan Ley may say”.

They have invited people to “join us in the spirit of the Wirritjin to protect Djaki Kundu” before the end of the month, and those wishing to camp at the site to contact them on Facebook.

“Essentially that means QDTMR are intending to destroy Djaki Kundu … but we intend they will not,” a message posed September 9 on the Kabi Dreaming page said.

Wit-boooka has been among a group of activists fighting to preserve the site for several years., claiming it is sacred to First Nations people. Photo: Kristen Camp

TMR’s spokesman said the department was aware of the protesters inside the construction zone.

“We have not approved any public access, camping, workshops or events at Rocky Ridge,” he said.

“Any person who attends the Rocky Ridge site does so unlawfully and at their own risk.”

He defended the State Government’s handling of the Rocky Ridge site during planning for the bypass.

“TMR has worked closely with the Kabi Kabi First Nation Traditional Owner group as the registered Aboriginal party and native title applicants since 2014 and has signed a Cultural Heritage Management Plan with the group,” he said.

“Our investigations have shown there is no tangible evidence of Aboriginal cultural heritage at Rocky Ridge.”

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey has repeatedly defended the State Government’s management and consultation with the land’s Traditional Owners. Picture: Alix Sweeney

The battle over the Rocky Ridge site been ongoing for years.

Claims it is a sacred cultural site have been disputed by TMR and independent experts including Gympie historian Dr Elaine Brown.

A November 2020 attempt to obtain an injunction stopping the work was denied by Queensland’s Supreme Court.

Minister Mark Bailey said in February the area had been subject to multiple investigations with the help of the land’s Native Title holders since 2014.

The comments were made in a letter of response to Greens MP Amy McMahon, who criticised the department over its plans to build the bypass through part of the site.

Mr Bailey claimed her initial correspondence about the site contained “several assertions and factual inaccuracies”.

Senator Larissa Waters called the plans to build the bypass on the land ‘outrageous’ during a visit to the site in April. Photo: Kristen Camp

He said the claim for protection was expanded to cover a larger area after no tangible evidence of cultural heritage was found and now included “a supposed ‘bora ring’ that was in fact constructed in October 2020”.

Despite this lack of evidence “a large portion of the site has been fenced off so the area can be preserved during construction of the Gympie Bypass”, the Minister said.

In April, Greens Senator Larissa Waters called the plans to build the bypass through the site “utterly outrageous” during a visit to the area.

“The state department asking First Nations owners to move off their own land so they can put a road through their site, you couldn’t make this up – that is utterly outrageous.”

Wit-boooka has been an outspoken and controversial campaigner on land rights issues, a fight that has landed him in court on several occasions.

In 2015 he and two others were charged by police following a violent fracas inside Gympie Regional Council’s Mary St chambers when they tried to evict staff from the building over a land rights claim.

Work on the bypass has been halted at the site by TMR while the Federal Government considered the application to Ms Ley under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Heritage Act. Pictures: Josh Preston

Wit-booka (charged as Gary Tomlinson, of Southside), Djaa ‘mee Gular Djan du Kabo (Mervyn James Tomlinson, of Bundaberg) and Djaki Widjung (Diane Patricia Redden-King, of Curra) went to trial over the incident.

Wit-boooka was found guilty of forcible entry to the council’s non-public area, three charges of common assault and a one of serious assault on a police officer.

Djaki Widjung was acquitted of all charges.

Djaa ‘mee Gular Djan du Kabo was acquitted of all but one charge, found guilty of serious assault on a police officer.

In 2019 charges of trespass against Wit-boooka at the Rocky Ridge site were dropped by police.

In May Ms Ley’s office declared an area at Bathurst’s Mount Panorama protected under the ATSIHP Act, halting plans to build a go kart track at the popular raceway.