Update: Can you please still help by contacting the politicians and media outlets listed below?
Photo above of the swathe cut near Buangor in 2015 for the widening of the previous section of highway.
Djab Wurrung land in rural Victoria, west of Ballarat, has been under active threat of destruction and development for nearly a decade. And now, devastating roadworks that will destroyirreplaceable indigenous heritage are planned to soon re-commence. Can you spare a moment to send a Facebook/Instagram comment, or send an email?
Thanks to protectors’ efforts, the Birthing Tree and surrounding land where centuries of Djab Wurrung babies were born is still largely intact.
But recently, a re-commencement of the highway expansion was announced. If allowed to go ahead, this expansion will desecrate the Birthing Tree area. It will destroy the country’s songlines and ancestor trees. It will destroy the endangered Golden Sun moth, habitat for both Barking owls (only 400 left) and Phascogales (native marsupial), as well as patches of a critically endangered type of Grassy Woodland.
There are straightforward modifications to the route that could be made which will avoid most of the environmental and cultural damage. But the Victorian Government has refused to consider any of the solutions that have been put forward.
Instead, contractors have begun putting up flags again,marking the edge of the construction zone. Major earthworks – which will have one of the biggest impacts and will dig a huge scar through the land – are also scheduled to begin soon.
So what can we do? What can you do?
With a State Election looming and the threat of One Nation, both major parties are listening more closely to the public than usual, especially in this marginal seat of Ripon. Telling politicians that we are alarmed and distressed by the wanton destruction that is planned is very influential. Doing it publicly iseven more so.
Can you write a Facebook or Instagram comment? Send an email? Write to a newspaper?
Such actions will raise public awareness and show the Government that this is not an issue that will quietly and conveniently slip away before the election. We will not sit idly by whilst indigenous heritage, ancient trees, endangered species, and irreplaceable songlines are destroyed.
… Especially when there is an alternative route available which does not destroy any cultural heritage sites and has the added bonus of doing significantly less environmental damage, being faster to build and cheaper by tens of millions of dollars.
The alternative route is the Northern Option. Expert analysis shows that it will require far fewer earthworks – and thus willdo substantially less environmental damage, will be enormously cheaper, and will not destroy the songlines. It also runs alongside the existing road, eliminating the need for huge on/off ramps, and completely avoiding the cultural heritage sites, leaving them undamaged. Over seventy ancient trees will be saved with the Northern Option, and there are plenty of other benefits on top of this. Yet the Government has, so far, refused to consider it. We aim to change that.
So! Who should you write to? What should you say?
We’ve included a list of target politicians below. We’ve also included a couple of example texts which can be used as-is or edited as needed. And if you need a more in-depth refresher on what this issue is, and why people should still care about it, we’ve included that below as well.
We really appreciate your support, and we wouldn’t have managed to protect this land for so long without the help of people like you. If you could take a few minutes to do any or all of the above actions, we would be grateful all over again.
Thank you.
~~~
Suggested Politicians:
1. Gabrielle Williams, Minister for Roads Infrastructure
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BgHuZwmJf/
Email: gabrielle.williams@parliament.vic.gov.au
2. Sonya Kilkenny MP, Minister for Planning
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1CmYW68CBD/
Email: sonya.kilkenny@parliament.vic.gov.au
3. Anthony Carbines MP, Minister for Police
(Note: Minister Carbines has expressed concern about his Government’s election strategy and its response to integrity matters)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/19Bo2Rhv5y/
Email: anthony.carbines@parliament.vic.gov.au
4. David Southwick MP, Deputy Leader of the Opposition
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BSDREa7Y8/
Email: david.southwick@parliament.vic.gov.au
5. Danny O’Brien MP, Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/18rE9e252g/
Email: danny.obrien@parliament.vic.gov.au
6. David Davis MP, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1CazXJn2C7/
Email: david.davis@parliament.vic.gov.au
This is merely a shortlist. Your local State Representative would also be interested to hear from you – and of course, there are a total of 128 politicians in Victorian Parliamentacross a range of parties. Any one of them would be interested to hear from you – especially in an election year.
Send them an email, comment on their Facebook/Instagram posts, or call their offices.
~~~
Example of a facebook post, or an email:
Dear [Minister’s name],
I am horrified that the Victorian Government has not yet movedthe Buangor-to-Ararat section of the Western Highway duplication to the alternative Northern route. It avoids theindigenous cultural area, requires far less earthworks, doesn’t destroy songlines, and will save tens of millions in tax-payer dollars. A responsible government – especially one that is already billions of dollars in debt – would do this.
The Djab Wurrung have already had so much of their cultural heritage destroyed. They were not truly represented in the consultation process. They want an alternative route.
Insisting on destroying cultural heritage in the face of indigenous opposition, community opposition, and a better alternative route, means that we cannot trust the Labor Government.
The Northern Option is available. It will be cheaper, less destructive, and faster to complete. Why not use it?
Yours faithfully,
[Your name]
[Your suburb or electorate]
~~~
Want to contact the media? Great!
Media outlets:
1. West Vic News: editorial@westvicnews.com.au
2. The Guardian: editorial@theguardian.com.au
3. Saturday Paper:
General Enquiries: enquiries@thesaturdaypaper.com.au
Letters to the Editor: letters@thesaturdaypaper.com.au
4. Wimmera Times: newsdesk@mailtimes.com.au
5. Ballarat Courier: News Desk & Story Tips: news@thecourier.com.au
6. Herald Sun: news@heraldsun.com.au
7. Pyrenees Advocate: editor@theadvocate.net.au
Sample newspaper letter:
Dear Editor,
Given that the State of Victoria is already billions of dollars in debt, I am astounded that the Labor Government intends to proceed with the more expensive of the two route options for the Western Highway duplication through Buangor-to-Ararat.
One route will take less time to complete, is cheaper by tens-of-millions, does substantially less cultural and environmental damage, and has widespread community support. The other route is pricey, will be slow to complete, destroys indigenous heritage, and is facing ongoing community opposition. Yet Labor is currently determined to stick with the expensive, slow, contested route. Why?
Victorians deserve to have a freeway that is completed sooner rather than later (especially after nearly a decade of delays) and at a reasonable price instead of an expensive one (especially given the existing size of our State debt).
We cannot trust a Government that wilfully wastes millions of taxpayer dollars when there is an alternative route that is superior in every respect that has been measured.
Yours faithfully,
[Your name and town]
Need a refresher on this issue? Read on:
Djab Wurrung land in rural Victoria, north-west of Ballarat, has been under active threat of destruction and development for nearly a decade.
The Birthing Tree is a tree with a hollow in the base of the trunk and used for centuries by the Djab Wurrung people. The canoe tree not far away is a fantastic example of indigenous cultural practice, where the bark of a tree is carefully carved out to make a canoe, all without killing the tree. The Directions Tree was a place that generations of indigenous people would visit seeking spiritual connection and direction. The Grandmother and Grandfather trees are protectors of the area; trees that have guarded and guided countless generations of Djab Wurrung over the course of their lives. All these pieces culture are connected by still-visible campfire areas, remnant hunting swamps, and sheltered cooking place.
The surrounding area is full of living history – rock shards chipped away from larger chunks to make hunting tools, axes,and grinding stones, all still sitting where they were dropped hundreds of years ago; an indigenous-made billabong, designed to fill with water during the wet season to provide a lasting water source through summer; scar trees; remnant artefacts; and more.
Songlines are also an incredibly important part of Aboriginal culture. The shape of the land is actively tied to indigenous stories and navigation, connecting the people to the dreaming landscape and explaining how to traverse it and how to care for it. The huge earthworks the Government wants to do will cut deeply into the hilly route that runs from the cultural areatowards Ararat. The planned excavation is needlessly extensive and will completely destroy the songlines.
The area is also home to critically endangered ancient vegetation communities. It is one of the dwindling patches of habitats for the vulnerable Golden Sun Moth. Native marsupials and endangered owls will also face devastating habitat loss if the Southern Route goes ahead. To wilfully destroy this habitat is utterly unconscionable.
The Government is aware of this. They have been provided with detailed environmental reports that cover these impacts and more… yet the Government refuses to meaningfully engage with them or factor them into their decision-making process.
The large majority of the above damage and loss isavoidable. The Southern Route cuts through both the habitat and the cultural heritage areas. The Northern Option, comparatively, merely skirts along the edges of the cultural/habitat sites without destroying them. More than seventy ancient trees will be saved if we swap to the Northern Option as will most of the endangered moth/owl/marsupial habitat.
The Southern Route also requires an astronomical amount of earthworks – contractors will need to use heavy machinery and possibly explosives to carve through hills and gouge into the land. This will be slow, costly, and will cut straight through the songlines. The Northern Option, on the other hand, utilises the land alongside the existing highway, requires comparatively few earthworks, and doesn’t impact the songlines any more than the current highway does.
Word of these planned works and the damage they would do got out years ago, and the community response was swift, strong, and widespread. A Djab Wurrung Embassy was set up across the three main cultural sites, all staffed by both indigenous and non-indigenous defenders, whose collective efforts successfully protected the land for over two years.
In 2020 the Victorian Government extended the COVID lock-down by two days to break and dismantle the Embassy. On Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 October, contractors moved machinery into place at Top Camp, drawing defenders from allthree sites to block access to and protect the Grandfather Tree. The contractors used this distraction to move in behind the defender’s lines and felled the Directions Tree.
The Directions Tree had been there a minimum of 350 years. That’s since before the year 1660. Well before Captain Cook’s arrival here.
Over 300 hundred years of spiritual and cultural connection; of being a living point of contact to the ancestors of all Djab Wurrung descendants – gone in an instant.
The contractors then loaded the trunk of the felled tree into a truck, which they paraded back and forth in front of the devastated defenders and through the town of Ararat with this sick trophy.
The loss of the Directions Tree was immeasurable. The grief and trauma to the Djab Wurrung protectors onsite who witnessed its destruction is still having an impact today.
The violent breaking of the Embassy that followed was another blow. Police forcibly displaced defenders from the Embassy sites, injuring several people in the process and denying them access to medical aid for hours. Tents that had stood up to more than two years of Ararat winters were cut to pieces; defenders’ belongings deliberately strewn about in the dirt. The destruction of the Embassy was violent, vindictive, and needlessly destructive. It was designed to break the spirit and will of those defending Djab Wurrung lands.
But despite this, the fight is ongoing.
The Birthing Tree and Grandfather Tree are still alive. The surrounding lands are still intact.
The DjabWurrung people have already lost most of their cultural heritage sites – places that were deliberately destroyed due to colonisation. The few sites that are left are all the moreimportant as a result. We cannot let these last remnants of genuine and invaluable culture, artefacts, history, and spiritual connection be destroyed.
The Government will tell you that the Registered Aboriginal Corporation, Eastern Maar, has signed off on this destruction. They’ll tell you that Eastern Maar accepts their plans forprotection of the cultural heritage.
However.
The majority of the Djab Wurrung community and Elders were not included in initial discussions and negotiations, and once Eastern Maar took authority as the Registered Aboriginal Party for the area, Women Elders with a genuine connection to the sites appear to have been displaced and silenced. Meanwhile, one of Australia’s leading anthropologist assessed the sites and was astounded by the sheer number of artefacts and cultural evidence she found.
Given all that, should Eastern Maar really have the authority to sign off on this destruction? Especially since Djab Wurrung members have persistently maintained their opposition to it?
Between the cultural impacts, the environmental damage, and the cost of one route versus the other, it seems like a no-brainer to swap over to the Northern Option.
So why haven’t they? That is a great question!
It’s not one that we’ve ever been given a satisfactory answer to.
But there is still time to convince them. Public support and pressure have protected these lands for nearly a decade.
The politicians need to hear that we care. Today. The markers for bulldozers are again being slammed into the soil.
With a State Election in November this year, it is a sensitive time for Politicians. Let them hear, NOW, that we care.
If the Government REALLY wants the road finished in the shortest, most efficient time – and for significantly less money – then the Northern Option is the far superior option.
The Southern Route that the Victorian Government currentlyintends to pursue is the worst possible option. It is inefficient. It is expensive. It damages multiple Djab Wurrung cultural sites and their songlines.
But with the Northern Route… the road will be completed faster, for less money, and will preserve the majority of the area’s heritage and environment.
Tell the Pollies that the Southern Route is unacceptable forextreme cultural, environmental, and financial reasons. Tell them that the Northern Option is the only truly viable route, and that we will not settle for anything less than that.
The email addresses of target politicians are above. Most of their Facebook and Instagram pages allow public comments. Newspapers take letters from the public.
This Government is trampling on everything we value, with no accountability for our past, our future, or our finances. Tell them to do better. Tell them to swap to the Northern Option.