‘Cruise terminal will reduce life expectancy of Aboriginal life expectancy’
A BOTANY Bay cruise terminal will reduce the life expectancy of the local Aboriginal people and degrade their culture.
Southern Courier
Don't miss out on the headlines from Southern Courier. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Cruise boss: Botany Bay most viable option
- We must embrace Botany Bay cruise plan
- 'Yarra Bay Sailing Club will go down'
- Hundreds pack meeting to fight cruise plan
A BOTANY Bay cruise terminal will reduce the life expectancy of the local Aboriginal people and degrade their culture.
That’s the message from two indigenous La Perouse community leaders who say their culture is gradually being eroded away.
Tim Ella said a cruise terminal would kill off fishing in and around La Perouse and Yarra Bay.
“We are already the must vulnerable people in the world,” he said. “The water provides our traditional food source, taking that away is killing our people.
“We’re going to disappear. Instead of dying in our 50s we are going to be dying in our 30s.”
The local Aboriginal people have a cultural permit to fish in the area as the mullet and other species are deemed vital to their diet and health.
“We eat it for our omega 3,” Ella said. “It’s our source, it is important for our people. Our elders need that food.”
Mr Ella, who runs educational tours of the area, said he is reliant on tourism. However, he said the survival of his people will always come first.
“It has been 230 years since white man landed here and we are still suffering today. It hasn’t got any better for us.”
Trevor Walker said there are also fears for a 20,000-year-old whale carving close to the water’s edge at La Perouse. The artwork hasn’t been seen for decades after elders decided to seal it off because it was being vandalised.
“Like we’re being told now, we were told when they built the new runway that we would experience the benefits and the extra jobs. That never eventuated.”
The area around La Perouse and Yarra Bay is incredibly important for the Aboriginal community with many able to trace their roots back hundreds - even thousands - of years.
Ella fears the terminal will further erode away at their culture.
“We got kicked out of Sydney in the late 1800s. Now we’re just down here and they want to take our food source away,” Mr Ella said.
“Every kid has the right to know about this and the way we fish. It is part of our culture, it represents us. If that goes it is gone forever. If I die tomorrow my family will never know.”
IN OTHER NEWS
