Premier open to a second, independent assessment of mass grave at Riverlea housing site

The Premier says he is open to a second assessment on Aboriginal remains in a mass grave at the $3bn Riverlea housing project after a first one “ruled out” a massacre site.

Premier Peter Malinauskas says he is open to having an independent archaeological assessment of a mass grave of Aboriginal remains found at the Riverlea housing project north of Adelaide.

It comes after Kaurna Traditional Owners raised concerns because they believed the site to be the result of a “massacre”, saying the way the bodies were placed was not how they buried their people.

The site at Riverlea, formerly called Buckland Park, is being developed by the Walker Corporation, which commissioned the first archaeological assessment after the discovery in July.

On Monday, Mr Malinauskas said there was a need to make sure “public confidence” was maintained and was open to an independent assessment to determine the origin of the remains.

Premier Peter Malinauskas says an expert assessment has ruled out the assertion the mass grave is due to a massacre. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

“I think there is a need to make sure that public confidence, particularly from Aboriginal communities themselves, can be maintained in the integrity of the process, and that is something we want to facilitate in every way,” he said.

“We only know that there was an archaeological assessment that has been conducted, that has provided advice to the government to suggest that it wasn’t as a result of a massacre.

“But we’re more than happy to have that tested should there be a need to do so, but that‘s the advice we’ve received up until this point.”

So far, the remains of at least 29 people have been unearthed, excavated and stored in a shipping container.

Protesters at the Riverlea housing development at Buckland Park at the weekend. Picture: Ben Clark

Former Director of Aboriginal Affairs for the state government and Kaurna elder, Ian Carter. Photo: Douglas Smith

Kaurna elder and former Director of Aboriginal Affairs for the state government, Ian Carter, has been leading the push for work to be stopped and a second assessment to be conducted.

He told The Advertiser it was not traditional practice to bury bodies in a group and it suggested either a massacre or another cause.

“How do you get 29 bodies put in the ground at the same time without something being the cause of all of their deaths at the same time,” he said.

“It could have been a massacre – it could have been smallpox – but we never bury them in a mass grave.

“How does he (archaeologists) know that we buried 30 people at a time?.”

The Riverlea site being developed by the Walker Corporation, owned by billionaire property mogul Lang Walker, is a $3bn project set to build 12,000 new homes.

The Walker Corporation has also applied to extended development of the site for the next 25 years.

The application under Sections 21, 23 and 29 (1) (b) of the Aboriginal Heritage Act, seeks to conduct ground disturbing works, which would see more remains “excavated and removed where necessary”.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Kyam Maher has previously told The Advertiser he would consider recommendations from all interested parties before he delivers a decision early next year.

The Advertiser has reached out to the archaeological expert for and the Walker Corporation for comment.

Originally published as Premier open to a second, independent assessment of mass grave at Riverlea housing site