A co-director of an Indigenous corporation opposing a $1 billion gold mine being built in a region of New South Wales had unsuccessfully sought to have all streams, lakes and rivers in the area registered as Aboriginal heritage sites.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek recently blocked the proposed site for a gold mine tailings dam at Blayney in the state’s central west.
In mid-August, it issued an indigenous heritage protection order rejecting the planned dam site at the mine.
The Wiradjuri Central West Aboriginal Traditional Owners Corporation called on the Minister to protect the headwaters and springs of the Belubula River as a central site for creation stories.
This is despite the mine originally being approved by the NSW Independent Planning Commission in March 2023, a process that involved consultation with the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, the elected body for local Indigenous leaders.
In 2021, Lisa Paton, a director of the Wiradjuri Traditional Owners’ Central West Aboriginal Corporation, attempted to have the state’s Office of Environment and Heritage register all of Blayney’s waterways as Aboriginal sites. The Australian reported.
‘This (application) relates to ALL NATURAL watercourses in the Blayney County Council region, including all watercourses that are no longer flowing, within 100 metres of each side of watercourses, rivers, streams, marshes and lakes,’ he said in his application, which was ultimately denied.
‘All the waterways in the proposed area are known to have deep spiritual significance.
Lisa Paton is co-director of the Wiradjuri Traditional Owners’ Central West Aboriginal Corporation, which has spoken out against the proposed site for a tailings dam at a billion-dollar gold mine being built in Blayney, New South Wales.
‘The connection to the river for the Wiradjuri people was related to their kinship groups and each person had a responsibility to care for and protect a section of the river and waterways related to their family ties.’
The revelation was criticised by Sky News presenter Caleb Bond.
“Imagine if we applied that across the country,” he said.
“Every waterway in the country is now some kind of indigenous sacred site because of course I’m sure at some point there was an indigenous person drinking or fishing in every waterway in the country,” he said.
“The same could probably be said of every piece of land in the country.”
At the time of Ms Paton’s application, Regis, the company behind the gold mine, had been consulting with indigenous groups, including the one of which she is a director, on the mine for five years.
Ms Paton also once worked for the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, according to her LinkedIn, and also conducts heritage research with the Belubula Headlands Protection Group.
Ms Paton had previously applied for all of Blayney’s waterways to be registered as an Aboriginal heritage site.
In 2021, Ms Paton submitted a petition to then Environment Minister Sussan Ley opposing the creation of the gold mine.
It obtained just over 300 signatures.
Ms Paton successfully recorded an Aboriginal burial ground on the western side of the proposed gold mine site in 2020.
Roy Ah-See, a representative of the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council and an Indigenous elder, previously said Ms Plibersek’s decision undermined the council’s recognised authority.
“Not all Aboriginal people are environmentalists, we advocate for the economic empowerment of our people,” said Ah-See.
“Our children want to be part of the economic base of future generations.”
The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority also said the impact on the Belubula River would be “minimal”.
Ms Plibersek previously said she had opposed the tailings dam being established on 400 hectares of the 2,500-hectare site, and suggested the company look elsewhere for it.
Regis CEO Jim Beyer previously said the order made the project unfeasible because alternative sites for the tailings dam were also within the exclusion area.
“We have a big task ahead of us to understand what the alternative is to the tailings facility,” Beyer told reporters in Orange last month.
Tanya Plibersek issued an Indigenous Heritage Protection Order rejecting the proposed tailings dam site at the gold mine (pictured) in mid-August.
It would take years to complete the geotechnical drilling and environmental studies needed to identify a new location, he said.
“At this point we’re not sure exactly what direction we can take,” he said.
“We will study it because it is a worthwhile project, but we don’t know how long it will last. It could be five or ten years.”
Regis executives have met with several NSW government ministers to consider possible ways forward.
