Indigenous elder slams damage of Ralphs Bay Aboriginal midden by man bulldozing track to beach

An Aboriginal elder says the actions of a man who disturbed a significant shell midden by bulldozing a track to the beach at a local bay has caused damage spiritually and culturally.

AN ABORIGINAL elder has slammed the actions of a man who damaged a shell midden at Ralphs Bay by bulldozing a track from his fiance’s shack to the beach.

Rodney Dillon, palawa elder and chairperson of the Aboriginal Heritage Council, condemned the “smashing up of Aboriginal sites” like the midden – which he said could be between 10 to 20,000 years old.

“People who are not fit to look after this land shouldn’t have it. Look after it and protect it, If you’re too stupid to do that, don’t have it,” he said.

On Tuesday, 23-year-old Brayden Cary Millhouse appeared in the Hobart Magistrates Court, pleading guilty to interfering with a relic, taking growing plants, making a track on reserved land and driving a vehicle on reserved land.

A further two charges of disturbing an Aboriginal relic on reserved land and destroying trees were dismissed.

Tasmanian Aboriginal man Rodney Dillon at Murrayfield Station on Bruny Island, Tasmania. Picture: Peter Mathew

Prosecutor Verity Dawkins told the court that in late 2019, Millhouse worked into the night clearing vegetation from the track with a Bobcat.

She said in doing so, he recklessly or negligently disturbed a large midden complex that extended about 700 metres from the conservation area.

A ranger driving by later noticed the freshly-cut track, and an assessment was conducted by Kate Moody from Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania.

Ms Moody said the midden, comprised of numerous deposits of blue mussel and oyster shells, had been “bisected”.

It was deemed the “level of disturbance to the site was severe” and was unlikely to return to its previous condition.

Ralphs Bay foreshore at Lauderdale.

A report prepared by Mr Dillon noted shell middens were considered “living places” by Aboriginal people, providing “a tangible connection for our community today”.

“We believe this damage to be significant, both spiritually and culturally,” he said.

“We find these types of acts to be totally disrespectful.”

Millhouse’s defence lawyer said he was “deeply remorseful”.

“He unreservedly apologises to Mr Dillon and the Aboriginal community,” he said.

“His lapse of judgement …. was out of character.”

He said at the time Millhouse’s fiance bought the property, there was an existing informal track that was used regularly.

Magistrate Chris Webster convicted Millhouse, fined him $5000, and ordered him to pay $5000 for restoration works.

View of Ralphs Bay foreshore at Lauderdale

Speaking after the court hearing, Mr Dillon said the fine was “very small”.

“My concern is that people can damage our sites and there’s no real consequences,” he said.

“We need people to know that this is not acceptable – smashing up Aboriginal sites.

“If someone was chipping away at the pyramids so they had access to the water, I wonder what fine they’d have.”

He said once middens were damaged, they couldn’t be returned to their original state.

“This is one culture landing on top of another,” he said.

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