Gold Coast Cableway: indigenous woman Justine Dillon’s response to Gold Coast City Council’s plan for hinterland tourist attraction
A cableway in the Gold Coast hinterland has been a hot topic in the city for decades, with little progress - but Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has announced an update on the polarising project.
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A granddaughter of inspirational indigenous elder Graham Dillon says the Gold Coast City Council should start listening to traditional owners and can its controversial quest to commercialise the Springbrook National Park.
Gold Coast leader Justine Dillon says a cableway could threaten Springbrook’s natural environment and sacred Aboriginal culture that exists within the Burleigh to Springbrook corridor.
Ms Dillon, the project co-ordinator for Ngarang-Wal Gold Coast Aboriginal Association Incorporated and Guanaba indigenous Protected Area, is the first traditional land owner to speak out about the polarising project.
Her late grandfather, Dr Dillion, worked tirelessly for the community.
At his funeral last November, former Prime Minister John Howard said the Kombumerri man left a “remarkable legacy”.
Ms Dillon, who worked closely with her grandfather, and her father, who was the former project co-ordinator for Ngarang-Wal but stood down, said: “We call Springbrook Medicine Man mountain and it was a meeting point for us to do ceremonies.”
“We were told he could change in flora or fauna, so when we go up to the mountain we see faces in the rocks,” she said.
“We don’t want those natural areas impacted or destroyed.
“The cultural and environmental value all along the Gold Coast is just spectacular, and we are very blessed with an abundance of natural resources that link to our cultural heritage.
“I would love Mayor Tate to reach out to my family Ngarang-Wal.
“We feel like we don’t have a voice in local council.
“Our main focus is environment conservation, so we would like to be put front and centre for anything environmental on the Gold Coast, because we have that knowledge.
“We stay true to our Aboriginal heritage that developments aren’t really our way, we stick to natural environment and having a big concrete jungle is not Aboriginal way.”
Ms Dillon has previously spoken at a public forum organised by Gecko to fight against “multiple threats” to national parks.
A cableway in the Gold Coast hinterland has been a hot topic for 20 years.
An Urbis prefeasibility report last May advised there was “merit” in investigating the city’s potential newest tourist attraction to be built across the valleys of Springbrook and Neranwood at a cost of $170 million.
The council, at this point, is unable to give an exact time line on the progress of the project.
Council officers later said the best practice criteria included the tourist project being “designed to fit within the character of the Springbrook National Park” and to “minimise its footprint”.
Mapping at the time showed the area where traditional owners would be consulted, and a study area that swept east from the Purling Brook Falls to Mudgeeraba.
The gondolas would operate on a dual cable system. A base station would be off Springbrook Road, and a mid station and destination station on Springbrook plateau, the officer report said.
Mayor Tom Tate last year said it was “paramount” to get the views of traditional owners, but he asked “all parties to come to these discussions with an open mind”.
Environment Minister and Gaven MP Meaghan Scanlon said any cableway proposal must stack up environmentally and had to be done in consultation with traditional owners and the broader community.
“Council’s proposal in 2020 was only a high-level pre-feasibility study, and did not conduct any consultation with the community and traditional owners,” she said.
“I’d absolutely expect consultation as the next necessary step before council goes any further with its proposal.”
Ms Scanlon maintains there are “strong laws in place to make sure that any proposal is ecologically sustainable, preserves the Land’s natural condition and cultural values, and is in the public interest”.
The Bulletin asked Mayor Tate to respond to opposition from traditional owners and where the City was in developing the cableway application.
“Council will wait until the new chief investment officer (CIO) is appointed before progressing this proposal. That appointment is expected in the next three months,” he said.
“Like every major project in the city, I would be the first to rule out a cableway if it did not meet environmental conditions.
“Similarly, we would definitely liaise with all parties including indigenous representatives but the project is still in its infancy so it is appropriate to wait until council has made the CIO appointment.’’
Gecko campaigner Lois Levy warned the degradation in some of the Coast’s important national parks was evident and governments must act to protect threatened biodiversity and provide improved funding for better management.
They will be debated at a public forum at the Robina Community Centre at 12.30pm on Saturday.
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