ATTENTION: SPACE STATION: CAPITA HOUSE DIA
from: BASE STATION: LAST OF RIVER PEOPLE & TRADITIONAL OWNERS
Newsflash!
Permission to come home! The Spaceship has landed with Astronauts Thorley and Randolph - the DIA Spaceship has come home!
Our Spiritual Dreaming & our Laws & Customs we feel has been taken notice of.
Capita Spacestation, nicknamed Governor Stirling Tower, would you please acknowledge?
The Last of the River People of the Swan Coastal Plains and the Swan Valley and all those Nyungah People who stand for Aboriginal recognition and Sovereign Rights in the Swan Coastal Plains and the whole of the Continent of Australia, appreciate your letter (to Hansons Quarry, see below) of 21 November 2007, and we acknowledge your seriousness in your written word terms that you have put down for all those who have broken or not respected our Spiritual Beliefs or the Aboriginal Heritage Act in the Susannah Valley.
It has been identified by the Spaceship that Hanson’s Quarry is the core of the disturbance of the Sacredness, causing the dust to rise and the ground to tremble and shiver and shake in Susannah Valley.
We the River People were wondering what the Old Old People of the Swan Coastal Plains were saying when they have spoken and told us time and time again in the past when we was defeated:
“Live in the Hopes of Tomorrow! Try again!”
The Hopes of Tomorrow is here and now with this message:
“The Spaceship has landed for Susannah Valley”.
We’ve fought all our Lives. Will this bring to light Murujuga (Burrup) and all our Sacredness spread across the breadth and length of this continent? -
‘Respect! Respect! Going Home at last!. Going Home at Last!
The Last of the River People and Traditional Owners would like to say in paying tribute and recognising Astronaut Thorley and Astronaut Randolph under the direction of the Base Controller of the Capita Government Space Station Michelle Roberts, in Perth, Western Australia:
You are Living Legends! You will go down in History!
You will be in the Channels of the Four Winds!
Welcome Home from Space!
Over and Out!
Here is the letter from DIA:
Note: this letter from DIA was sent the DAY AFTER a report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly (Tabled Paper No. 3459) saying the DIA was failing Aboriginal People, especially in the "protection and management of heritage sites". According to the West Australian newspaper Premier Carpenter tried to keep this report secret for more than two months (http://www.thewest.com.au) because it reflected badly on his performance as former Minister for Indigenous Affairs. This is what Blackfellas have known for a long time.
Mr John Simons
Hanson Construction Materials Pty Ltd
123 Burswood Road
BURSWOOD WA 6100
Dear Mr John Simons
Aboriginal sites and quarry extension proposals at Red Hill
The Department for Indigenous Affairs (DIA) has been advised that Hanson Construction Materials Pty Ltd has submitted proposals to expand the existing quarry at Lot 11,585 Toodyay Road, Red Hill. DIA understands that there may be a number of proposals, some of which may already be the subject of environmental and planning approvals processes.
A search of the Register of Aboriginal Sites (Register) reveals that there are six sites listed on the Register that are either within or intersect with Lot 11, (Attachment 1) . It appears that all 6 sites, that are or may be subject to the provisions of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 (AHA), may be within the area of the proposed quarry pit development, (Attachment 2). In recent days DIA has been made aware that it is possible that there are still other sites yet to be reported. These places do not currently appear on the Register.
From the information already known, it appears that without the consent of the Minister under section 18 of the AHA, the proposed expansion programme will be in breach of section 17 of the AHA. Penalties for breaching the AHA range from $50,000 to $100,000 with any neglect attributable to any individual director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, he as well as the body corporate shall be deemed to have committed that offence and is liable to be proceeded against.
DIA has already provided advice to the City of Swan in regard to your proposals recommending that Hansen Construction Materials Pty Ltd undertake an appropriate Aboriginal heritage study of the area to ensure that the future works at the quarry do not breach the AHA. DIA also advises proponents that project plans should be modified to avoid the Aboriginal sites if possible or, if sites cannot be avoided, to seek the consent of the Minister for Indigenous Affairs to use the land in accordance with section 18 of the AHA.
While there is no specific provision in the AHA that requires developers/landowners (or their agents such as anthropologists or consultants) to undertake consultation with Aboriginal people it is the policy of the DIA to encourage any developer/landowner to consult with relevant Aboriginal people in relation to their proposals. The Aboriginal Cultural Material Committee (ACMC), whose role it is to make recommendations to the Minister about such proposals, also insists that evidence of consultation is provided with any notice under section 18 of the AHA seeking consent to use land containing a site.
For matters relating to notices to be submitted under section 18, it is the policy of the ACMC that persons to be involved in Aboriginal heritage surveys should include those who hold native title as determined by the Federal Court, persons named as informants on Aboriginal site recording forms held in the Register of Aboriginal Sites at DIA, and persons identified, by professional heritage consultants, as having a known or claimed interest in an area.
Persons included in this latter category may be part of a group in the process of claiming native title, or persons who may have a historical connection with country through birth, familial death or long periods of employment. Persons with these histories often have a rich and intimate connection with country and a comprehensive appreciation of its heritage values. Although not included in the native title process they can often make a valuable contribution to the ethnographic texture of heritage interpretation.
In light of the possibility that the proposed expansion program will require the consent of the Minister, I strongly recommend that you consider a program of consultation with relevant Aboriginal people to ensure that Hanson Construction Materials Pty Ltd has sufficient knowledge of the Aboriginal heritage within its area of proposed pit expansion. Should you wish to seek further advice about the processes of the AHA please contact Mr Peter Randolph, Senior Heritage Officer, on 92358100.
Yours sincerely
Pam Thorley
REGISTRAR OF ABORIGINAL SITES
21 November 2007
cc. Sarah Cosstick, Department for Planning and Infrastructure
Phil Russell, City of Swan
Richard Sutherland, Environmental Protection Authority
Messrs Robert Bropho, Greg Garlett & Victor Warrell, Combined Swan River and Swan Coastal Plains Native Title Holders and Traditional Owners
Click here to download a scan of the letter
Click here to see a map of the proposed quarry extension
Click here to see the DIA attachments