“Every day it’s happening and a lot is not immediately known to us.”
The council’s Matthew Storey said the federal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act had not provided adequate protection, and should be “wiped” and new laws drafted.
Dr Anne Poelina, chair of Fitzroy Martuwarra council in Western Australia told the inquiry about the “enormous pressure” traditional owners were facing in protecting the Fitzroy river, the largest Aboriginal heritage site in Western Australia.
“Unjust, invasive colonial development comes to communities in such a way that we don’t have time to respond in the way we want to, to such massive development,” Dr Poelina, a Nyikina woman and expert in land and water management, said.