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The Northern Territory s heritage protection laws to come under scrutiny as the work of the Juukan Inquiry continues.
The hearings will take place by teleconference on Tuesday and will be looking at the Top End s cultural protection laws, after concerns were raised by Traditional Owners about the expansion of the Gencore McArthur River mine.
The Central Land Council (CLC), the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, and the International Council for Monuments and Sites will be among the groups giving evidence.
In it s submission, the Central Land Council urged state and territory governments as well as the Commonwealth to defer any decision that could potentially damage First Nations sites until relevant legislation can provide adequate protection.
Traditional owners threaten to shut down Australian Unesco site Kakadu National Park
23 Feb, 2021 08:44 PM
5 minutes to read
Kakadu traditional owners say their concerns over the park have fallen on deaf ears. Photo / Unsplash, Nick Dunn
Kakadu traditional owners say their concerns over the park have fallen on deaf ears. Photo / Unsplash, Nick Dunn
news.com.au
The traditional owners of Kakadu National Park have threatened to shut it down amid anger at federal authorities for letting the site fall into neglect.
The Unesco World Heritage site, which is jointly managed by Kakadu s traditional owners and the federal agency Parks Australia, has long been a bucket list destination but recent years have seen a sharp decline in international visitors in particular.
It s the worst management that I ve ever seen, ever happen, Mr Nadji said. There s no management in this place, it s gone downhill. No one basically trusts anybody, no one respects each other anymore. Senior Traditional Owner for Gunlom Falls Mick Markham said he was prepared to close down that site. The top pools at Gunlom Falls were closed to the public during last year s tourism season due to claims a new walkway was built close to a sacred site. The matter is before the court after the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority filed a charge against Parks Australia. Kakadu board of management chair Maria Lee said: Whatever we made a decision on, they (Parks) would override that decision.
The UNSW report found there were delays in responding to issues raised by the independent monitoring system, which was set up to protect the environmental and cultural interests in the area, with the mine site operator Glencore Australia, and the NT mining regulator failing to act quickly to mitigate these risks, or failing to take action on recommendations altogether.
The NT government recently approved an expansion of the mine, despite the authority responsible for the protection of Aboriginal sites rejecting Glencore s application.
The NT s Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA) said they were concerned about the potential damage to sacred sites after Glencore was given the green light to increase the size of the mining pit and waste rock dump last year.