Tanya Plibersek ‘deaf to Indigenous voice’ over dam upgrade, says Wilcannia Local Aboriginal Land Council

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is being accused of ignoring the voice of northwestern NSW Indigenous people over a proposed dam upgrade in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. Picture: Martin Ollman / NewsWire

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is being accused of ignoring the voice of northwestern NSW Indigenous people over a proposed dam upgrade in the Murray-Darling Basin, with the central land council saying the proposed changes won’t address cultural dispossession and social dysfunction in the community.

In a letter addressed to the Labor cabinet minister, the Wilcannia Local Aboriginal Land Council expressed outrage that the weir had been “totally redesigned” by the NSW government at the exclusion of local engagement and that the new format would do nothing to stop destruction of the Darling Baaka culture.

With the letter copying in Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney, council chief executive Michael Kennedy urged the federal government to intervene to ensure the water security of Indigenous people. “Our community voice, in agreement with everyone else involved, even to your level, had been ignored, particularly for opportunities in addressing cultural dispossession and social dysfunction,” he wrote.

“The proposed new design is focused on a questionable belief it will increase the security of town water supply for Wilcannia, with relatively token contributions to cultural, social needs and questionable environmental impacts”.

The project is funded by the federal and NSW state governments, and Ms Plibersek pledged $15m for refurbishment of the Wilcannia weir with the funding promising to “improve water security and contribute to better Basin Plan outcomes for the Indigenous community of Wilcannia” and “enhance opportunities for cultural gatherings”.

The funding came following almost three decades of community lobbying, with locals concerned the existing weir meant the town was frequently cut off from the river system during drought periods.

A spokesman for the Department of Environment said the federal government “remains committed to improving the water sec­urity of the Wilcannia com­munity and we will consider additional funding for a proposal from NSW that also has strong community support”.

Mr Kennedy said the weir was originally designed to be 5m high, following extensive consultations with the local community that led the locals to believe it “had a voice and ownership” and that they were proud of the weir.

However, he said the NSW government in December announced it would proceed with a 4m high weir without effective flow gates, which completely blindsided the local community.

Opposition water spokeswoman Perin Davey said it was “appalling Labor is not listening to local Indigenous voices. If they had, the new weir would be well on the way to being completed; instead, we have an angry community wanting to know why they are being ignored”.

Mr Kennedy accused the NSW government of using environmental and cultural assessments to “justify ignoring the voice of our local predominantly Aboriginal community in arguably one of the most socially disadvantaged Aboriginal com­mun­ities in NSW … continuing destruction of the Darling Baakawhich this proposed weir will do very little to stop … is destroying their culture”.