Albanese government slammed by traditional owners over $1.6bn Warragamba Dam wall raising

The Albanese government is ­facing accusations of not backing up its commitments to protect Indigenous culture by traditional owners over the $1.6bn Warragamba Dam wall raising.

Gundungurra traditional owner Kazan Brown. Picture: AAP

The Albanese government is ­facing accusations of “virtue signalling” and not backing up its commitments to protect Indigenous culture by traditional owners after Emergency Services Minister Murray Watt said Labor was open to the $1.6bn Warragamba Dam wall raising.

The third major flooding event in Sydney’s western suburbs over the past year has intensified calls for flood mitigation measures to be implemented to protect vulnerable homeowners and businesses, with the push to extend the dam wall by at least 14m again under the spotlight.

Gundungurra traditional owner Kazan Brown – a critic of the project who has claimed it would lead to the destruction of hundreds of culturally significant Indigenous sites – accused the federal Labor government of taking policy advice from its NSW Liberal counterparts.

“The Albanese government’s plans on reconciliation will be seen for nothing but virtue ­signalling if they are willing to consign our World Heritage ­Listed culture to destruction by raising the Warragamba Dam wall,” Ms Brown told The Australian.

“The Albanese government needs to walk the walk, and not just talk the talk on protecting Indigenous culture.”

Ms Brown questioned from where Senator Watt was obtaining his policy advice, saying it was apparent he had ignored the number of flood and emergency service experts who had questioned the effectiveness of raising the dam wall.

“We now have the extra­ordinary situation where the Australian insurance industry and UNESCO publicly oppose the dam raising, yet the federal Labor Party is taking their policy lead on emergency management from the NSW Liberal Party,” Ms Brown said.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Senator Watt indicated that Labor was open to looking at the Warragamba Dam raising, saying he was looking forward to working with the NSW government and “keen to understand the proposal better”.

Senator Watt was contacted for comment.

The dam raising appears reliant on federal funding in order to get the green light, but the ­Albanese government looks unlikely to agree to the 50-50 funding split desired by the Perrottet government.

It is also contingent upon a federal environmental planning approval.

State Labor Opposition Leader Chris Minns has recently said he was “very sceptical” of the dam raising, noting the major blowout in the near-tripling of the estimated cost of the project.

Archaeological experts have repeatedly warned that the cultural heritage assessment underpinning the dam raising has insufficiently surveyed the area at risk of inundation if the dam raising goes ahead.

Western Sydney Minister Stuart Ayres asserts the project is imperative to protecting the lives and livelihoods of residents on the flood plain.

Val Attenbrow, the principal archaeological research scientist at the Australian Museum, ­labelled the cultural heritage ­assessment of the proposed ­extension of Warragamba Dam as inadequate.

She said proceeding with the project would “greatly diminish’’ significant Indigenous sites, some potentially more than 40,000 years old.

The Australian has revealed that NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is under pressure to look at ­alternative options to the costly project.

NSW Transport Minister, David Elliott is said to be privately arguing that reducing the dam’s water levels could be an appropriate interim measure.