Camp Quoll protest site
The Australian Walkabout Wildlife Park and The Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council both began court proceedings against Rocla Materials Pty Ltd on Monday, September 1.
Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC) CEO Mr Sean Gordon Darkinjung was pleased to proceed to the Land and Environment Court to have an independent umpire determine the outcome. “Aboriginal culture and heritage is an integral part of Australia’s history,” said Mr Gordon. “At a time when we are talking about constitutional recognition, is it important that we recognise our Aboriginal history and its importance in the fabric of the Central Coast. “This is certainly not the time to erode it,” he said. Darkinjung LALC has been actively engaged in the proposed development application for many years and throughout this time, a number of site surveys and night recordings have been conducted, identifying Aboriginal sites within the proposed extension area. “The proposed extension would have a detrimental impact on cultural objects, sites and places as well as the broader cultural landscape,” said Mr Gordon. “We await and welcome the findings of the court case.” Camp Quoll spokesperson Mr Ian Sutton said it was the community’s last chance at a legal resolution to a gross mismanagement of our precious water resources and the destruction of a sacred Aboriginal site. For eight months the community has occupied land adjacent to the proposed southern expansion of the Calga sand quarry. “This protectors’ camp was set up to assist the local community to defend their lands and water against corporate greed and government corruption,” said Mr Sutton. “With full support and cooperation from the local community, Camp Quoll has facilitated a series of peaceful direct actions to blockade the existing sand quarry and bring awareness of the unacceptable situation that is occurring on the mountain. “Fifty per cent of the Central Coast water supply is sourced from our mountain top aquifers that feed the streams and rivers that fl ow into our storage dams. “These dams then provide us with our town water that in turn provides for our industrial and household water use. “There is a sustained campaign from our government to facilitate big business to be able to unsustainably exploit this precious resource without any consideration of future water needs. “The NSW state government have ignored all voices from the community and allowed Rocla Materials Pty Ltd to destroy our high aquifers for the extraction of sand. “Despite the community providing evidence of breaches of water management legislation, breaches of consent conditions and breaches of corporate governance, the NSW Department of Planning has continued to ignore the people and allow Rocla to carry on business as usual. “The NSW Office of Water has also played its role in allowing this quarry to operate, despite overwhelming evidence of insufficient water licences, lack of attached water supply works approvals and no water allocation accounts. “These are all mandatory requirements for any land use that extracts water or interferes with the aquifer and Rocla have been allowed to operate despite these serious breaches of legislation. “The community needs to become more active in the process of holding the government accountable for their actions. “There is no advantage to our economy by pursuing short term economic gain over long-term sustainability and the people need to speak up and stand up or our most precious resource will be lost to future generations. “Regardless of whether industry is chasing sand, coal or gas, to place these natural resources as somehow more signifi cant to our economy than water is completely insane. “These products all have alternative sustainable options that if invested in appropriately would provide significant economic stability and jobs. “There is no alternative to water and the gross mismanagement of this natural resource will lead to economic collapse and humanitarian disaster. “Regardless of the results of the court case, the community will not stand by and allow cultural genocide and risks to our future water security to continue. “Camp Quoll will continue to provide protection for this incredible and important landscape and will be taking appropriate action if the community fails to achieve the justice we deserve from our court system. “Without doubt corruption and dysfunction plague our government system and it’s this process that allows corporations to exploit both the community and the environment. “Camp Quoll has received great support from the community to date and if this continues, we will then continue our peaceful direct action campaign, and make every effort to stop the quarry expansion if the court sees fi t to ignore the community’s wishes and allow Rocla to expand their operations,” said Mr Sutton.
Media release, 1 Sep 2014
Louise Duff, Brilliant Logic
Media release,
31 Aug 2014
Ian Sutton, Camp Quoll