Indigenous culture ‘hijacked for hidden agendas’

The former chair of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council has blasted the decision to ban part of a $1 billion gold mine, saying Indigenous culture was “hijacked for hidden agendas”.

• Mine’s $200m budget hit

Roy Ah-See, former chair of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, has blasted the decision by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to ban part of the McPhillamys gold mine, saying Indigenous culture was “hijacked for hidden agendas”.

“This decision has got me baffled,” he told the Bush Summit, adding the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council hadn’t opposed the mine, while a smaller group which advised Ms Plibersek – the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation – did.

“To set up a corporation and call it a traditional owner corporation is disingenuous,” he said.

Mr Ah-See added his ancestors would be “rolling in their grave” to see “our culture hijacked for hidden agendas”.

“I’m very annoyed, how are we going to close the gap?” he said saying the biggest killer of Indigenous people was poverty.

“Here we’ve got a Minister knocking back a mine which could create economic empowerment for my people.”

Mr Ah-See added the Local Aboriginal Land Council had advised the company to “take a stand” and not look for an alternative site for a tailings dam.

“At the end of the day this (decision) undermines our structures and systems…not all Aboriginal people are environmentalists. We’re about economic empowerment for our people,” he said.

Jim Beyer, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Regis Resources, said three alternative sites for a tailings dam for McPhillamys overlap with the area banned by Ms Plibersek and that work to find a new location had been sent “back to square one”.

“It’s going to take us quite some time…we said (at the time) it could take us five to ten years to find a new location for it,” he said.

“We appreciate the Premier…and Minister Houssos…are all very keen to help us, but we still need to go through all the engineering works, we spent four years (identifying) that spot.

“We do not have options available…we’re virtually back to square one.”

Jonno Duniam, Opposition environment spokesman, called on Ms Plibersek to resign.

“If she can’t stack up her case…then she should resign,” he said.

Oppoistion leader ‘flabbergasted’

NSW opposition leader Mark Speakman said he was “flabbergasted” at Federal Environment Minister Tany Plibersek’s decision to block a gold mine at Blayney near Orange.

“It’s an extremely disappointing decision,” Mr Speakman said outside The Daily Telegraph’s Bush Summit. “It’s not only the hundreds of millions of dollars of royalty revenue for New South Wales that we look like we’re going to lose but hundreds of permanent jobs.”

He said it sent a terrible message to investors that they could go through the planning process at a cost of millions of dollars only to have the rug pulled out from under them at “the eleventh hour”.

Mr Speakman attacked the “lack of transparency” surrounding the decision and called on Ms Plibersek to release the reasons given to her by an indigenous group outside the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council for blocking the mine.

“You’ve got a minority of people who’ve basically been allowed by the Minister to hijack the system,” he said. “The report that’s been reliable hasn’t been released.”

The entrance to the Regis Resources gold project, which has caused a huge rift between Premier Chris Minns and the Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. Picture: Rohan Kelly

NSW Premier Chris Minns has pointed out an Aboriginal land council that did not oppose a gold mine being built near Orange had previously warned that it was concerned people without any authority on cultural heritage were trying to “hijack” the project.

It comes as Federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek is standing firm in her decision to block the mine in Blayney that would create 800 jobs.

This has caused an extraordinary rift in Labor, with Mr Minns saying she is absolutely wrong and that he wants the mine to go ahead.

Her decision comes after it was revealed the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council – which has cultural authority in the area - warned that it was worried other groups were trying to “hijack” the project.

“We question the motives of people and organisations who participate in promoting unsubstantiated claims and seek to hijack Aboriginal cultural heritage in order to push other agendas,” the Land Council said in a submission that found no reason why the mine should not go ahead.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said Tanya Plibersek’s decision to block the mine is “absolutely wrong”. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

In budget estimates on Wednesday, Mr Minns read out an excerpt from this submission.

But Ms Plibersek has said she took the advice of another group called Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation, which said the area was of cultural significance.

Ms Plibersek said it was “important to identify who the appropriate people are” to listen to decide on the cultural heritage of a project.

“In this specific case, I have listened to the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, but in the end I have taken the advice of the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation,” she said.

Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek is standing firm on her decision to block the gold mine. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

But Wiradyuri man and former chair of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council Roy Ah-See said he had never heard of artist Nyree Reynolds or the 18 members of the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation.

“I know a lot of people and I have never heard of any of them,” Mr Ah-See said.

“I think the minister has been hoodwinked.

“This is a concern for industry and corporations as well as Aboriginal Land Councils because we have a system and the minister ignoring it throws the whole thing into doubt.”

Ms Plibersek refused to attend The Daily Telegraph’s Bush Summit in Orange today (Thurs) to face angry locals and explain her decision because she said she has already attended the opening summit in Townsville and has a full day of meetings in Sydney.

Instead she doubled down on her decision on Wednesday.

“The mine can go ahead, what I have said is that the tailings dam cannot be built on the headwaters of the river,” she said.

“The company has said that there is $7 billion worth of gold in the ground, if that’s the case it’s probably worth their while to redesign the project.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns told budget estimates yesterday that Ms Plibersek’s “eleventh hour” decision to block the mine after it had received state planning approval was “absolutely” wrong.

“I’m disappointed by the decision from the commonwealth government,” he said.

“The application was made in 2019. It’s gone through the independent planning and assessment commission, as well as every other government department in NSW.

“And to be knocked over at the eleventh hour is disappointing in terms of mining gold and other critical minerals in NSW, which we desperately need because coal mining is under pressure, particularly when it comes to export markets.”

Mr Minns said the decision to block the tailing facility “may well” mean the death of the project but that he was still “hopeful for an alternative tailing.”

A spokesperson for the neighbouring Bathurst Local Aboriginal Land Council also said Ms Reynolds “doesn’t represent us” and “has no authority to speak on our behalf.”

“She has never been a member of our Land Council, or applied to be a member.”

The Land Council also confirmed they did not have any discussions with Ms Plibersek before the Environment Minister knocked back the gold mine.

Originally published as Indigenous culture ‘hijacked for hidden agendas’