| Historical notes: | The Peats Ridge Songline
The Calga Aboriginal Cultural Landscape (Calga ACL) is located along the primary ridgeline of Peats Ridge which has been identified as a traditional Aboriginal walking route between the Hawkesbury and the Hunter rivers. Aboriginal people commonly followed ridgelines to travel through rough country. The route would be used to visit neighbours for trade, to arrange marriage, participate in ceremony or other cultural events. Often these routes were understood as shared areas along which 'strangers' could travel through another group's lands without causing offence (McDonald 2008). Modern roads in Australia often follow traditional songlines and routes of Aboriginal communities, reflecting how European settlers relied on the knowledge of Aboriginal guides to traverse the country. Over time these 'explorers' routes became more formalised into roads and highways, as seen with Peats Ridge Road (GML 2016).
Aboriginal people identify routes such as Peats Ridge as songlines, routes that ancestral beings such as Baiame, Bootha and Daramulan took across the land, the knowledge of which is passed down through oral histories. The landscape along the songline is often marked by the actions taken by these ancestral beings in the past, physically expressed through their works such as rock engravings and, also through natural landmarks or features including topography, waterholes and trees. These would be interpreted and navigated by knowledge passed down through traditional songs and stories. As such, the songline provides a practical and mental map of important travel routes, and is also used to teach people about the Dreaming, the law and about obligations to Country. Songlines are still physically travelled as a teaching device for learning about Country, spirituality, ceremony and men's and women's business. The physical act of travelling the route and interpreting and responding appropriately to its markers is valued as an important part of the learning process (GML 2016).
Ancestral Beings
The Calga Aboriginal Cultural Landscape is recognised by Aboriginal people to have been marked by the presence of ancestral beings. Belief in certain creator beings is recorded as being common to Aboriginal groups across much of southeastern Australia. These creator beings were called different names in different areas, with variations in stories about their deeds. In the Sydney region there is a belief in three main ancestral beings who travelled across the land during the Dreaming, performing various deeds and creating other beings and the landscape as it is today (McDonald 2008).
These three primary figures are Baiame, the father, his wife Bootha, and their son Daramulan. The stories about their deeds and travels across the landscape vary from place to place but the belief in their role in creating the world links many Aboriginal nations together, often across vast distances. These figures are not perceived as having existed in the past but continue to exist and participate in life and ceremony in the present day. In some communities Baiame and Daramulan are understood to be different names for the same being, however, in those such as Darkinjung country they are known as father and son (Attenbrow 2010). These ancestral beings, sometimes referred to as culture heroes, are often identified in rock art from identifying features including larger than life size, combination of human and animal-life features and/or depiction of animal totems (Vinnicombe 1980).
According to the local Darkinjung and Guringai communities, Biame and Bootha, at a site near Mooney Mooney, first instructed the other totemic ancestral beings to go out and create the land. One of these was Echidna who journeyed north performing various deeds before finally stopping, taking the form of Mt Yengo (Hodgetts 2010). At this time Baiame and Bootha also travelled across the land, eventually coming to Baiame Cave in Wonnarua Country southwest of Singleton. Within Baiame Cave pigment art depicts Baiame with his arms outstretched, said to be protecting the Hunter Valley. In addition to the Guringai and Darkinjung communities, those of broader south eastern Australia including the Wonnarua people believe that after he had finished creating the world he stepped on Mt Yengo and returned up into the sky, flattening its top (GML 2016). From the sky he took an all-seeing interest in people and particularly their conduct of male initiation (Godden 1982). Places visited by Baiame are sometimes marked with distinctive engravings of his footsteps (Hodgetts, cited in Ross 2011). Such places include the Brewarina Fishtraps created by Baiame, Yambacoona Mountain where he taught community the lesson to share resources with each other and Mt Drysdale where he sleeps (Paul Gordon 2018).
According to the local Darkinjung and Guringai communities, Bootha was originally the holder of the law and gave it to her son Daramulan who in turn gave it to Aboriginal people via initiation ceremony known in this part of Australia as the Bora, Burbung or Boraba (Paul Gordon 2018). Daramulan is often depicted in rock art as a male figure either in profile or front on with a club foot or one leg or alternatively he is depicted as an emu (McDonald 2008). Boys are called to initiation by the sound of the bullroarer, which represents Daramulan's thundering voice (Sharon Hodgetts, Darkinjung submission 2018). The Law of Daramulan is well documented by early European anthropologists such as R. H. Matthews:
'His name is made up from dhurru, thigh, and mulan, one side, the whole name meaning leg-on-one-side, as he is said to possess one leg only... He had a voice like the rumbling of distant thunder. It fell to his lot to separate the youths from their mothers and teach them the Burbung ceremonies' (Matthews, 1905).
Like her son, Bootha's totem is the emu. She is sometimes depicted as an emu, or emu-woman, but such depictions are comparatively rare (McDonald 2008). She has a special name which is rarely spoken except by those for whom it is socially appropriate (Affidavit of Paul Gordon 2014).
Aboriginal people from across eastern Australia express similar understandings of Daramulan's role as son of Bootha and central figure in initiation ceremonies. The emu story extends from the Pacific Ocean into the Northern Territory, the path of the story following the rising of the sun from east to west (Hodgetts, 2018).
Aboriginal people recognise the Calga ACL as an important ceremonial place with a special association with these creation beings. At the women's site, the engraving of the female figure is determined, by its larger than life size, rare detailing (which reflects ceremonial practise and cannot be made public due to gendered cultural sensitivities), association with the large emu and footprint engravings and its proximity to ceremonial stone arrangements to be a depiction of Bootha, the wife of Baiame (Affidavit of Sharon Hodgetts 2014). The footprint is identified to have been made by Baiame and the emu is recognised as Daramulan by its size (Sharon Hodgetts 2014). This is reinforced by the womb-like shape of the amphitheatre which physically embraces the site and provides privacy, safety, resources and amenity for Bootha and ceremony related to her.
The heavy concentration of motifs related to Daramulan in the eastern portion of the site is seen to be highly symbolic, given the regional context and location along the songline (Tracey Lee Howie, 2018). The profile emu with a three-toed foot and large protruding chest is interpreted as Daramulan in emu form, the prostrate male human figure shown pointing west with a small bandicoot alongside is interpreted as a 'guide' pointing the way to men's ceremonial grounds further along the songline. The one-legged human figure is interpreted as Daramulan calling the mothers to bring their sons to him to be initiated and learn the Law that Bootha had given him (Hodgetts, Darkinjung Submission 2018).
In light of this, the topography of the landscape, which is seen to be protectively embracing all within it in the shape of a womb, and its key location adjacent to the songline, the Calga Aboriginal Cultural Lansdcape is recognised as the highly place where Daramulan came into being and was first given the Law (Tracey Lee Howie 2014). It also marks the place where boys were separated from their mothers and taken for initiation, where they would die as boys and be reborn as men. It is a place where Law is respected, adhered to, practised and passed on (Darkinjung 2018).
The Cultural Landscape
The term cultural landscape refers to 'the combined works of nature and man', as designated in Article 1 of the World Heritage Convention (Fowler, 2003). An Aboriginal cultural landscape is 'a place or area valued by an Aboriginal group (or groups) because of their long and complex relationship with that land. It expresses their unity with the natural and spiritual environment. It embodies their traditional knowledge of spirits, places, land uses, and ecology. Material remains of the association may be prominent, but will often be minimal or absent' (Buggey 1999, cited in Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW, 2010).
First introduced to the English speaking world by geographer Carl Sauer in the 1920s, the concept of cultural landscapes became broadly embraced by the cultural heritage management discipline across the world in the 1990s (Jones, 2003). At this time, practitioners in NSW and the NSW government began to move away from previous conceptions of Aboriginal Cultural Heritage as physical objects or archaeology such as rock art, to a richer recognition of multi-faceted Aboriginal Cultural Landscapes imbued with meaning. Where, previously, there had been a sole focus on NSW Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System (AHIMS) data of known recorded objects and archaeology known as "sites", contemporary NSW best practise recognises that complexes of "sites" are understood as part of cultural landscapes made up of layers of tangible and intangible significance which expresses the connection of Aboriginal people, past and present, with country.
In 2019, the NSW government formally recognised cultural landscapes in policy:
'For Aboriginal people, the significance of individual landscape features is derived from their interrelatedness within the cultural landscape. This means features cannot be assessed in isolation and any assessment must consider the feature and its associations in a holistic manner. This may require a range of assessment methods and will always require the close involvement and participation of Aboriginal people. By consulting with Aboriginal people and using the concept of cultural landscapes, the story behind the features can be told which demonstrates the associations that may exist between Aboriginal objects and other features within the landscape' (Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW, 2010)
Study of the cultural landscape and its tangible and intangible markers and underpinnings allows for a rich understanding of the traditional connection of Aboriginal people past and present with totemic ancestral beings and with country. The womb-shaped valley comprises not just the women's ceremonial area along the northern ridge, but also the Daramulan-related area of particular significance to men which tells an important part of the story of Daramulan's coming into being and passing down of the law to men through initiation. It also comprises north-facing shelters along the eastern ridge and open camp areas at the base of the gully where groups could be supported for camping and preparation prior for ceremony.
The significance of the Calga Aboriginal Cultural Landscape can be understood through interpretation of these interrelated tangible and intangible layers. Across the site, interconnected journey and directional markers, including topography, water sources, vegetation, rock art and stone arrangements have traditionally signalled information including directions, boundaries of initiated authorization, ritual practises and/or stories. The ability to identify and interpret these journey and directional markers and their related songs, stories and ritual practises is traditionally passed down through generations of Aboriginal people (Hodgetts 2009). Transmission of knowledge is based on factors including age and gender, and was undertaken gradually over the course of a person's life.
Ritualised movement through the Calga ACL involves this process of signal interpretation undertaken during travel along the natural pathways created by the terraced sandstone platforms and sloped contour of the land. In addition to providing necessary seclusion of vegetation and landform at key points, the landscape also offers key sightlines across and within the natural amphitheatre and into it from the Peats Road Ridgeline (Barbara Grew, quoted in GML 2016). In addition to providing amenity such as privacy the landform and vegetation possess intangible values which tie together the special associations, attachments, meanings, memories, stories and beliefs of the cultural landscape (Veale 2014).
Cultural Law and Gender
Much of the symbolism of the engravings, stone arrangements, landforms and vegetation of the site has been identified as being associated with secret women's business. For Aboriginal people of south east Australia gendered cultural divisions traditionally pervade broad areas of community life ranging from practical hunting and fishing practises to spiritual matters, according to cultural law (GML 2016). Aboriginal cultural law (sometimes referred to as traditional law or customary law) refers to the rules of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in traditional Aboriginal communities. It refers to the rules for living, established by ancestral beings during the Dreaming. Passed down by oral tradition, song, dance, art, ritual and ceremony, the law covers ritual, economic, residential and kinship rules and conventions, care of sacred places and objects, the division of labour by gender, etc. (Bourke, Cox 1994). A major tenant of cultural law is the obligation to care for country (Howie 2018). The ceremonies of men's business and women's business emphasize both the difference between the two sexes, and the ways they complement and depend on each other in traditional society (Berndt 1965).
Women's Business
For women, ritual and ceremonial duties, stories, songs, dances and knowledge associated with woman's business is passed down through generations at the appropriate age. Women's business includes rites and ceremony centred on female milestones, for example, birth, childhood, puberty, fertility, childbirth and death, but can also include a wide range of social ceremonies including those aimed at healing, dealing with quarrels, relationships, or bringing relatives home safely from a journey (Berndt 1965). Knowledge and practise of Women's business links Aboriginal women with each other and with their totemic ancestors from the Dreaming (Berndt 1965).
A level of seclusion or secrecy is often required, the exclusion of men and sometimes children can be important for their safety and wellbeing, and because their presence or knowledge of the rites could impair the success of the ceremony. There are supernaturally and socially derived consequences for those who disrespect cultural law (Berndt 1965).
The womb-shaped amphitheatre is important for women's business. In particular, the shape of the landform and associated views, vegetation, iconography of engravings and associated series of stone arrangements on the northern ridgeline of the natural amphitheatre have been noted as indications that it is sacred area for women's business (Howie 2017). Archaeological and anthropological research supports the combined cultural knowledge of local Aboriginal people which indicates that this area on the northern ridgeline is a place of teaching and ceremony related to sacred women's business. Believed to have been marked by the presence of creation deities, Baiame, Bootha and Daramulan, the landscape is recognised as the birthplace of Daramulan, the place where the lore was first passed from Bootha to Daramulan and a place where young women were initiated into sacred women's business (GML 2016). Further detail of this northern ceremonial area and its use is not able to be shared publicly in light of these gendered cultural sensitivities.
Beyond the sacred ceremonial area on the northern ridgeline, the cultural landscape comprises various other spaces and markers associated with women's business. For example, part of the southern area is of special significance to women, including a cave with red hand stencils and a group of ponds.
Further investigation of the site has the potential to provide further in-depth understandings of how Aboriginal people, and especially Aboriginal women, engaged with and derived meaning from the landscape. The importance of this anthropological potential is heightened by its richness and rarity, considering that historically, anthropological documentation of Aboriginal cultural practise has been dominated by a focus on men's ceremony (Jaky Troy, 2018).
European Occupation
Due to the rugged nature of the inland areas of the Central Coast places such as Calga remained undeveloped for a significant period following European settlement of NSW. The land comprised within the Calga ACL was set aside in late 1915 but it was not until February 1931 that the properties became available as Homestead Farms, part of a program designed to support returning servicemen by providing them with land and financial assistance. The land was described at the time as comprising gently sloping country with rocky sandstone ledges (GML 2016).
Frequently changing hands, during the twentieth century the properties were used for citrus orchards although much of the land was likely too steep, rough and sandy for further cultivation. At some time during the twentieth century a small area of Lot 40, DP 1087374 was mined for shale (GML 2016). Although clearing and earthworks associated with this may have impacted upon natural features, art and/or archaeological deposits no specific instances of this have been identified. It is not considered that these isolated agricultural and industrial works have severed connections across the amphitheatre or present a significant obstacle to ongoing work to investigate and interpret the traditional use and meaning of the landscape.
It was reported that when the land within current Lot 1 DP805358 was first cleared and ploughed, a 'blackfellows' ground' was uncovered at the 'back' of the property. The nature of this comment, made by a local resident, Mr H Cook to Ian Sims in the 1960s is likely to refer to the disturbance of Aboriginal objects, possibly around the convergence of the two first order channels in the gully where orchards were grown during the twentieth century (GML 2016).
Construction of Peats Ridge Road in late 1960s, which involved large earth works and rock cuttings, destroyed some of the known sites along the ridgeline including a significant Daramulan engraving and further engravings of Baiame's footsteps. Further reported engraving sites in this small area, east of Peats Ridge Road, were unable to be located in a ground truthing exercise in October 2017 and may have also been destroyed since the 1960s (OEH site visit, 2017).
Whilst intangible links between these engraving sites east of Peats Ridge Road and the boundary of the Calga ACL continue to be valued by the local Aboriginal community, and recognised to be linked with a broader network of sites east of the songline, these substantial earth works have impacted upon the connections beyond the natural amphitheatre of the Calga ACL. The link between the songline and Calga ACL is still discernible through remaining sites such as the profile engraving of a woman in the eastern side of the Peats Ridge Road easement (within the Calga ACL boundary) which is identified to be a way marker for pregnant women (Tracey Howie 2017).
Civil works such as an electrical line easement now transect the site. Although clearing and earthworks associated with these works may have impacted on natural features, art and/or archaeological deposits no specific instances of this have been identified. It is not considered that these civil works have severed connections across the amphitheatre or present a significant obstacle to ongoing work to investigate and interpret the traditional use and meaning of the landscape.
Late twentieth century developments
From the 1960s, sand and clay quarrying began to be undertaken in the area by various operators. Early quarrying was undertaken on a small scale and in an ad hoc manner, with contemporary management practises resulting in the degradation of Cabbage Tree Creek and its tributaries. In 1990 the Land and Environment Court ordered the quarrying to cease operations because of a lack of compliance with the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. In 1991 a new operator, Calga Sands Pty Ltd received approval to recommence quarrying within Lot 2 DP 229889. Rocla Materials Pty Ltd took over control of the quarry from Calga Sands in October 2002, and operated in until the 1991 consent lapsed on 1 January 2005 (DPE 2005). In 2004 Rocla Materials Pty Ltd lodged a proposal to re-open and extend the quarry to the north, beyond. It was approved in November 2005 (DPE 2005). These works appear to have dramatically altered the northern ridgeline of the natural amphitheatre comprised within the Calga ACL. The ability to identify and interpret any sites on this former high point and associated views and intangible connections are now lost.
At the western extent of the natural amphitheatre, the property (Lot 108 of DP 755221) has been operated since 1972 as Glenworth Valley, a horse riding business. More recently the business has expanded to include outdoor adventure activities including quad biking, abseiling, kayaking and laser skirmish activities.
Encompassing the southern extent of the natural amphitheatre, Popran National Park has been a gazetted National Park since 1994. It protects an important area of native vegetation and wildlife corridor between Brisbane Water National Park to the east and Dharug National Park to the west. Popran National Park was named after the major creek which flows through the park and the local Parish of Popran (POM 2000).
At the south -eastern extent, a wildlife sanctuary has been operated since 2001. Originally opened by Barry Cohen (Former Federal Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Environment) who bought the land, had it rearead and made it into a park, it was originally known as Calga Springs Sanctuary. It was purchased by new owners in 2005 and expanded with the lease of adjacent Crown Land in 2012. Surrounded by a fox-and cat-proof fence, the exclusion area is home to around 180 species of mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs.
Reconnection with the Women's site
The "women's site", a rare and sacred pecked engraving of a profile woman was first recorded in European records in a survey by Ian M. Sim in 1962. It was later relocated and photographed by Warren Bluff in 1993. In the context of proposed quarry extension into Lot 1/805358 the site was relocated in 2006, by John Appleton and Warren Bluff who noted it had been impacted by a covering of leaf detritus and roots (Appleton 2009).
The landowner, Rocla Quarries, commissioned several consultants over the following six years to undertake assessments of impact of the proposed extension of the mine. Over the course of these investigations many Aboriginal sites including stone arrangements several rock engravings, artefact scatters and shelters with art, were located in the landscape in the vicinity of the "women's site" (DPE 2005).
As part of these early investigations commissioned by the landowner it was identified that although there was an understanding within some members of the Aboriginal community that the land in question was of great significance to Aboriginal people, knowledge of the specific "women's site" had been lost to at least some of the community as part of the impact of dispossession from the land which had resulted from government policies which discouraged this in the past. When local Aboriginal people recorded the women's site in 2005 as part of the teams undertaking assessments commissioned by the land owner it was immediately recognised as a rare and important sacred women's site, thus affirming local oral history about a sacred area (Tracey Lee Howie, 2017).
From that time, in addition to extensive archaeological and ethnographic research commissioned by the landowner(s) the community began a process of coming together to combine their collective cultural knowledge to interpret the site. (Sharon Hodgetts, quoted by GML 2016). Local Aboriginal women have noted how the reconnection has acted as an important catalyst for bringing together people who hold different important pieces of its story and meaning (Sharon Hodgetts, quoted by GML 2016). This reconnection of different pieces of the story is both an important community effort to address the the cultural dislocation of colonisation, but also reflects the traditional system of gradual initiation and transmission of cultural knowledge within Aboriginal communities, whereby different individuals were charged with different components of cultural law/lore (based on factors including age, gender, level of initiation, role within the clan group, etc.).
This system of gradual knowledge inheritance is captured by Graham Walsh:
'All over Australia the stories, great and small, are told to the proper people at the proper time. The paths of the creator-powers link up the places where their mighty deeds took place and where other powers left descendants of Wallaby, Emu, Goanna, Yam and a host of others. Teachings are often followed, correct observance of ritual carries the religious law down through the generations, and only in old age can any person expect to have the great wisdom of dreaming, to receive the secret keys which unlock real understanding' (Walsh, 1988).
Warpiri elder, Wanta Jampijinpa further reflects on the value of sharing knowledge about country:
'There are 'few who still know how to listen to country. Our libraries exist within the country. They are embedded in our land archives and in our people. There is so much to learn within this country. Feeding each other stories keeps us from being hungry. Sharing it is like leading each other back home' (Wanta Jampijinpa 2017).
The community have also stated that the reconnection with the Calga Aboriginal Women's Site and the appeal to stop the proposed extension of the Calga sand quarry has helped to heal rifts and bring together formerly disparate parts of the Central Coast Aboriginal community. It is believed that this is not a coincidence, and that the site itself holds a power which acts in the world, bringing women together to learn and share their knowledge of Aboriginal culture (Tracey Lee Howie, quoted by GML 2016).
The reconnection has allowed female elders to use the site and the combined knowledge its discovery has brought together in the teaching of young girls about Aboriginal culture, womanhood and their heritage (Barbara Grew, quoted by GML 2016). Tracey Howie describes this:
'it is in our being....it is in us...it is our skin... for us to teach and support our fore-girl leaders emerging from our future leading women. Connection with this site and its surrounds, brings together a unity of continued learning, bringing together females, to share knowledge of Aboriginal culture across a diverse range of backgrounds' (Howie 2018).
Uniting around a common cause was a significant moment for many Aboriginal women involved in the appeal against the mine extension not only as a confirmation of their Aboriginality but also of their value and right to be heard specifically as Aboriginal women. This grassroots movement on the Central Coast was documented in local newspapers over several years and has had a lasting impact on community, particularly the community of Aboriginal women (GML 2016).
The community have remained committed to recognising and protecting the site's values since the proposed sand mine was refused on appeal, with Aboriginal communities from across Australia recognising its particular significance and connection to their places and stories in 2018 (Submissions received March-May 2018).
Proposed Quarry Extension and Land and Environment Court Appeal
In October 2006 Rocla first proposed the southern extension of the Calga Sand Quarry onto Lots 1 and 2, DP805358.
The new quarry would involve the excavation of a surface area of approximately 500 square metres at a depth of up to 30 metres. The sandstone obtained would be crushed into sand, primarily for the Sydney construction market. The land adjoined the Popran National Park, Peats Ridge Road and some private properties, including the site owned by Australian Walkabout Wildlife Park. The project was granted approval by the PAC under the now repealed provisions of Pt 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) in December 2013.
In November 2015, the New South Wales Land and Environment Court upheld the merit appeal of two objectors against the approval by the Planning and Assessment Commission (PAC) of the proposed quarry extension. The matter was heard over 17 days before two Commissioners of the Land and Environment Court.
The appeal was brought by the Australian Walkabout Wildlife Park, the operator of a wildlife park adjoining the proposed quarry, and Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council, the local Aboriginal land council in whose statutory area the proposed quarry was located.
Rocla Materials Pty Ltd, the project proponent, owned the land on which the quarry expansion was proposed. The Minister for Planning was also a respondent.
The hearing was largely confined to matters relating to the project's impact on Aboriginal cultural heritage. The applicants to the proceedings asserted that the rare Women's Site formed part of a broader cultural landscape of a natural amphitheatre with rare tangible and intangible values at local, regional and State levels (Dixon, Sullivan, Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council v Minister for Planning and Infrastructure [2015] NSWLEC 1465, [197]). In contrast, Rocla asserted that the project area contained "hotspots" such as the women's site, with "free land" in between them. Rocla sought to mitigate the impact of the proposed quarry on the Women's Site by proposing a 60 metre "buffer" around it. The applicants contended that the effect of such a buffer would be to isolate or "island" the women' site and destroy the cultural landscape which is intrinsic to its significance.
The court found that, "there is convincing evidence of the existence of a cultural landscape surrounding the "Women's Site", connecting to other nearby sites and encompassing tangible and intangible elements as described in the relevant OEH policy documents, significant elements of which may extend outside the proposed buffer area" (Dixon, Sullivan, Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council v Minister for Planning and Infrastructure [2015] NSWLEC 1465, [217]).
It also found that there is further potential for the discovery of new significant sites and/or information which might enhance the significance of known sites within the cultural landscape. It stated that further assessment of Aboriginal heritage values would need to encompass all aspects of values in the Burra Charter including not just archaeological and aesthetic values but also, historic and intangible social values:
'The extent of sites in the area, including those which relate to the evidence of past life, points to the fact that Aboriginal people traditionally, actively and intensively utilised an area which includes the Rocla land and probably stretching beyond. The area contains elements such as traditional food and water sources, walking routes, camping places, and abundant rock art, much of it relating to the travels of cultural heroes' (Dixon, Sullivan, Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council v Minister for Planning and Infrastructure [2015] NSWLEC 1465, [206]).
Further, it applied the Precautionary Principle in finding that, 'In the absence of sufficient information we must assume the worst and find that there is a threat of serious and irreversible environmental harm. Therefore, it follows that there is a shift in the evidentiary burden and that Rocla must demonstrate that the threat of serious or irreversible damage does not exist or is negligible. On the evidence, the Court cannot be so satisfied. In the circumstances the preference must be to prevent environmental damage' (Dixon, Sullivan, Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council v Minister for Planning and Infrastructure [2015] NSWLEC 1465, [459]).
The judgement has been recognised as a landmark precedent by the legal industry. Butterly and Petter recognised that the case showed that "the courts are increasingly recognising that cultural heritage comprises of much more than artefacts, but includes landscapes and values" (Butterly, Petter, 2016). Sack et al. noted that "This case demonstrates that the New South Wales Land and Environment Court is moving with contemporary practice in cultural heritage assessment and management" (Sack, Beatty, O'Callaghan, 2016). |