Don’t bulldoze Aboriginal heritage: Save the Butterfly Cave
Don’t bulldoze Aboriginal heritage: Save the Butterfly Cave
The issue
For 13 long years, Aboriginal women and their allies have been fighting property giant Roche Group to prevent the destruction of their sacred women’s sanctuary, the Butterfly Cave.
In our final, last-ditch attempt to save the cultural bushland, we are calling on the NSW government and the Federal Government to buy the land from the developer and secure the Butterfly Cave and surrounding cultural bushland, including the Journey Path.
In the lead-up to the NSW state elections (2023), we met with now Environment Minister Penny Sharpe, who visited the Cave in 2017. She made all the right noises. Now she has the capacity to create real cultural change by supporting Aboriginal women, she has betrayed us. There is no money for us. The government will not compulsorily acquire the land.
Contact Minister Sharpe to demand action here.
It's important to understand that the current state and federal government declarations - that we fought for years to achieve - do NOT protect the Butterfly Cave. Perversely, they protect Roche's capacity to pursue the housing development and not the site itself. The government declarations do not protect the structural integrity of the Cave, do not include critical water sources that are necessary for the physical integrity of the Cave, nor do they include the sacred Journey Path.
According to the current “protections,” Roche suffers no losses. Successive state and federal governments have failed to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage. They all have kept the interests of the big corporate over Aboriginal women.
Right now, Aboriginal women who want to connect with culture or spend time at the Cave to heal, have to ask for permission from white men gate-keeping our culturally safe space. We feel violated every time we have to do that or we risk being fined for accessing our own cultural heritage. There’s no consideration for cultural need or urgency - for example, if a woman has experienced a traumatic event and needs to connect with culture immediately, she has to ask Roche Group for permission via email. How can this be considered culturally appropriate in 2024?
We are emotionally and spiritually exhausted. Every day, we experience anxiety, grief, and frustration. Every day, we are terrified that today will be the day the bulldozers will move in and destroy everything. This is a terrible way to live. We’ve done everything - endless meetings, submissions, media, filling in forms, and explaining repeatedly why the site is important over and over again. Roche Group refuses to listen to us. It is traumatising, particularly for our older women. We want final protections now - state ownership of the land and guarantees for women to freely access the site.
For more information please visit:
The issue
For 13 long years, Aboriginal women and their allies have been fighting property giant Roche Group to prevent the destruction of their sacred women’s sanctuary, the Butterfly Cave.
In our final, last-ditch attempt to save the cultural bushland, we are calling on the NSW government and the Federal Government to buy the land from the developer and secure the Butterfly Cave and surrounding cultural bushland, including the Journey Path.
In the lead-up to the NSW state elections (2023), we met with now Environment Minister Penny Sharpe, who visited the Cave in 2017. She made all the right noises. Now she has the capacity to create real cultural change by supporting Aboriginal women, she has betrayed us. There is no money for us. The government will not compulsorily acquire the land.
Contact Minister Sharpe to demand action here.
It's important to understand that the current state and federal government declarations - that we fought for years to achieve - do NOT protect the Butterfly Cave. Perversely, they protect Roche's capacity to pursue the housing development and not the site itself. The government declarations do not protect the structural integrity of the Cave, do not include critical water sources that are necessary for the physical integrity of the Cave, nor do they include the sacred Journey Path.
According to the current “protections,” Roche suffers no losses. Successive state and federal governments have failed to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage. They all have kept the interests of the big corporate over Aboriginal women.
Right now, Aboriginal women who want to connect with culture or spend time at the Cave to heal, have to ask for permission from white men gate-keeping our culturally safe space. We feel violated every time we have to do that or we risk being fined for accessing our own cultural heritage. There’s no consideration for cultural need or urgency - for example, if a woman has experienced a traumatic event and needs to connect with culture immediately, she has to ask Roche Group for permission via email. How can this be considered culturally appropriate in 2024?
We are emotionally and spiritually exhausted. Every day, we experience anxiety, grief, and frustration. Every day, we are terrified that today will be the day the bulldozers will move in and destroy everything. This is a terrible way to live. We’ve done everything - endless meetings, submissions, media, filling in forms, and explaining repeatedly why the site is important over and over again. Roche Group refuses to listen to us. It is traumatising, particularly for our older women. We want final protections now - state ownership of the land and guarantees for women to freely access the site.
For more information please visit:
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Petition created on 8 October 2015