Traditional owners say they weren’t consulted properly on gallery location

Traditional owners in Alice Springs have rejected claims by Northern Territory Government that there is adequate support to build the National Aboriginal Art Gallery on the ANZAC Hill precinct.

Arrernte men Jonathan Conway, Russell Bray, Benedict Stevens and Fabian Conway think there should be more inclusive and adequate consultation on the gallery location. Photo: EMMA MURRAY

Traditional owners in Alice Springs have rejected claims by Northern Territory Government that there is adequate support to build the National Aboriginal Art Gallery on the ANZAC Hill precinct.

Some traditional owners say they were not properly consulted and were surprised to see the CEO and chair of Lhere Artepe Aboriginal Corporation write a letter to the government stating there is traditional owner support.

In another statement, traditional owners Benedict Stevens and Doris Stuart said there was “utter disrespect” shown by the Government and Lhere Artepe which was established to represent native title interests.

“Lhere Artepe does not speak on behalf of Mparntwe custodians … Lhere Artepe has no jurisdiction over the ANZAC Oval precinct, as Native Title has been extinguished,” they said.

The pair also said Tourism Minister Lauren Moss was invited to a meeting with traditional owners in June last year where it was made clear that there was support for the gallery to be south of the Gap.

“At the conclusion of the meeting, a clear and unanimous decision was delivered to Minister Moss that we would only support the National Aboriginal Art Gallery, on the very important condition that it is locate south of the Gap,” they said.

“No Minister or NT Government representative has chosen to meet with Mparntwe custodians since the June 2019 meeting.

“Mparntwe custodians made multiple requests after the June meeting to work with the NT Government in good faith on designing a more direct and respectful consultation process, and the NT Government has chosen to circumvent those requests.”

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Last week Lhere Artepe director Graeme Smith could not confirm how many traditional owners backed the site, but said it has “majority” support.

“At the end of the day Lhere Artepe has met and directors have all agreed to support the government on this,” he said,

But traditional owner Mr Stevens told the Centralian Advocate there wasn’t adequate consultation and the government was trying to take “shortcuts” by using the letter of support from Lhere Artepe.

“I would tell [the government] to hold your horses first,” he said,

“Let everyone else talk among themselves and talk to the rest of the estate groups. They are rushing it without consulting the rest of the estate groups.

“The government should get the whole community involved – black and white – to see what they say and not picking up people who = speak on behalf of the rest of the group.”

Minister for Tourism, Sport and Culture Lauren Moss said she acknowledges there is not a consensus opinion among Aboriginal people.

“Clearly no site will get consensus,” she said.

“However, we have also received many expressions of support for the use of the Anzac Oval site from those who are looking for something that not only gives their children and grandchildren skills and jobs, but can give this and future generations something right in the centre of Alice Springs that they can be proud of.

“ … there are more conversations to be had.”