The spiritual home for motorsport in Australia, Mt Panorama in Bathurst, is the latest place to be under attack from the irrational demands of aboriginal groups.
Ben Fordham 2GB... "is someone taking the piss here"
The report below from The Australian:
Indigenous sacred status bid for iconic Mount Panorama site
James Dowling
The fringe Indigenous group that brought down the billion-dollar Blayney mine project has laid the groundwork for an unprecedented legal bid to declare the peak of Mount Panorama, overlooking Australia’s iconic motor racing circuit, a sacred site, after one of its former members’ ashes were scattered there.
The Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation, which launched a successful last-minute effort to scupper the goldmine last year, has sought to register the peak as a state heritage site, after it held a smoking ceremony and scattered the ashes of former member Uncle Brian Grant there in late 2022.
McPhillamy Park, located on the summit, serves as a viewpoint over the town and its internationally famous motor racing circuit.
In an extraordinary ongoing dispute, the Wiradyuri group wants the site deemed “significant”, while Grant’s family have made inquiries about a federal order that would place restrictions over public access to one of the mountain’s best viewpoints and prevent any new development on it.
The Wiradyuri group rose to prominence last year after it convinced Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to issue a section 10 declaration over the proposed tailings dam for the McPhillamy’s goldmine, effectively bringing the project to a halt.
The submission to Ms Plibersek hinged on the Blue Banded Bee story – a controversial Dreaming yarn many local Indigenous elders have categorically denied ever being a part of Wiradjuri oral traditions.
The Australian has previously revealed Grant was instrumental in handing down the story to other Wiradyuri group members. Grant’s evidence was assessed only by Ms Plibersek’s staff, escaping the scrutiny applied to earlier submissions despite being the centrepiece of her final justification for the decision.
After Grant’s death in November 2022, the Wiradyuri group sought permission to hold a smoking ceremony on the peak of Mount Panorama-Wahluu where his ashes were scattered into a stone campfire before a tree was “scarred” in commemoration. Soon after, it sought to register the peak as a heritage site with the state-owned Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System.
The Australian understands council, state and federal environmental authorities have been locked in discussions over the site’s future since Grant’s family floated the possibility of placing a heritage protection application for the site under the same Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act previously used to secure heritage protection on the Blayney mine site, and to torpedo the Mount Panorama-Wahluu go-kart track in 2021.
Under the Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System, the peak is registered as the “burial site and ceremonial site for Wiradjuri Lore Man Mallyan Merriganoury (Grant’s Wiradjuri name)”. The site card was recorded by Uncle Jade Flynn, a central figure in the Wiradyuri group. Its current status is “not a site”, meaning it is not deemed significant, despite ongoing debate.
Multiple sources aware of the consultative process have said a win for Grant’s family could redefine cultural heritage law by opening the door to heritage applications predicated on contemporaneous Indigenous ceremonies.
Sections 9 and 10 of ATSIHPA law – the relevant legislation in the Mount Panorama-Wahluu discussion – are intended to protect sites at imminent risk from new developments or facing a clear threat of desecration. The Australian is not aware of any such risk to the site.
The federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said it had not yet received a new submission for the peak.
Bathurst Regional Council general manager David Sherley said the council had been blindsided by the AHIMS submission and had sought the advice of both state and federal counterparts.
“Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation contacted council in November 2022 seeking access to the top of the mountain for a final goodbye ceremony. This was negotiated and agreed to,” he said. “There was no indication that ‘heritage status’ would be sought.”
Mr Sherley said the council had “sought and obtained independent confidential advice” on the matter. The proposed heritage site sits in what is currently council-owned parkland. McPhillamy Park, located on the summit, serves as a viewpoint over the town and its motor racing circuit.
Any successful state or federal heritage listing would place restrictions over public access to the area and prevent new developments on it. Public site access is generally negotiated with the sponsors behind a successful submission.
Bathurst Local Aboriginal Land Council chief executive Toni-Lee Scott criticised the site declaration, saying it had been done without informing the Land Council, given it is the legislated cultural authority of the region.
“It is a traditional ceremony, but for a person that was not born and raised here, I find it a little bit uneasy,” she said.
“The Aboriginal community probably still aren’t aware of the marked tree.
“These government politicians listen to their every word.”
Local Indigenous leaders have criticised Ms Ley’s decision since it was first announced, arguing it lent the Wiradyuri group undue credibility. Since vetoing the tailings dam site for the goldmine proposal, Ms Plibersek has justified her reliance on the group’s evidence by pointing to Ms Ley’s decision as precedent.
The Wiradyuri group was contacted for comment
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