‘No dam claim’ says government

6th November 2009

Submitted

THE Queensland Government has dismissed claims by Mary Valley indigenous elder Eve Fesl that she has rights under cultural heritage laws, saying there is no legal basis to her call for a Stop Work order to be placed on the Traveston Crossing dam proposal.

Dr Fesl dropped a bombshell on the dam project this week, claiming the government had ignored her Gubbi Gubbi people’s rights under the concept of contemporaneous history.

She demanded that the Department of Environment and Resource Management issue a Stop Work order in response to what she said was a legal breach.

But the Department of Environment and Resource Management yesterday said the bomb was a fizzer.

A spokesperson flatly rejected the claim and said that Dr Fesl’s people no longer had any claim.

“The Department of Environment and Resource Management is unaware of any reasons or grounds in the request for a Stop Work order on the Traveston Dam,” the spokesperson said.

“An Indigenous Land Use Agreement registered in the National Native Title Tribunal includes a cultural heritage management agreement providing for the appropriate protection and management of cultural heritage.

“The Agreement satisfies the requirements of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act.

The Agreement was signed with the Kabi Kabi people who assert they hold native title in the area.

“The Aboriginal Party was involved in the early negotiations but withdrew. The Aboriginal Party objected to the registration but the objection was dismissed by the Native Title Tribunal,” he said.