Andrew Forrest irrigation project blocked by act that led to blast

The expansion of an existing irrig­ation project was blocked under the same act that allowed the destruction of the ancient­ Juukan caves.

Andrew Forrest. Picture: AAP

The expansion of an existing irrig­ation project on a Pilbara pastoral station was blocked under the same Aboriginal heritage act that allowed the destruction of the ancient­ Juukan rock shelters, where 7000 artefacts including bone tools were discovered.

A private company of billionaire and philanthropist Andrew Forrest and his wife, Nicola, ­applied in 2017 and last year to build an additional 10 weirs on the portion of the Ashburton River that runs through the pastoral station­ Minderoo, and to repair a river wall on the property built by the Forrest family in 1959.

The matter is now before the State Administrative Tribunal becaus­e the Forrests’ request was declined under section 18 of the 1972 Aboriginal Heritage Act that gave Rio Tinto the green light to blast Juukan Gorge last month.

The Forrests are in negotiations with the area’s traditional owners, the Thalanyji people, and still hope they can reach agreement on the irrigation project.

The decision against the Forrests was made in March, about seven years after Rio Tinto struck a native title deal with the traditional owners of Juukan Gorge. There has been rage and confusion over how Rio Tinto came to blast such a significant gorge against the wishes of traditional owners.

The company’s iron ore chief Chris Salisbury has described the concerns of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama­ and Pinikura people over the gorge as “recently expresse­d”.

He has apologised and said that the company regrettably thought it had an understanding with the traditional owners about the future of the site.

It is very rare for applications for site works and blasting to be rejected under WA’s Aboriginal Heritage Act.

No mining company­ has been rejected in the past decade and, according to the office of WA Aboriginal­ Affairs Minister Ben Wyatt, there have been only three rejections out of 907 applications from a range of companies and government depart­ments since 2010.

The act will soon be replaced by new legislation.

The Forrests’ application was rejected after objections from the Thalanyji people, who attributed importance to the permanent pools and the Ashburton river.

The Australian has been told no artefacts, engravings or ancient art had been cited in the trad­itional owners’ objections but they have a deep spiritual and cultural connection with the river and the Aboriginal Cultural Mater­ial Committee, which makes recommendations under the Aboriginal Heritage Act, took this into consideration.

It recommended against the Forrests’ proposal to Mr Wyatt, who generally follows the committee’s advice.

A spokesman for Forrest and Forrest Pty Ltd, the family company that runs Minderoo pastoral station, said the plan was to expand­ an existing aquifer recharge­ scheme that uses an innovati­ve leaky weir that was installed­ at Minderoo Station in consultation with the Thalanyji people in 2010-11.

“The scheme has been designed­ to assist with drought mitigation through providing additiona­l watering points for cattle­, and the opportunity to grow vegetation for fodder for all animals, including native wildlife such as kangaroos and emus,” the spokesman said.