Toodyay WA Owner Improves Creek Crossing and Risks Jail for Violating Cultural Heritage Act

A real estate agent could be jailed and fined $20,000 after allegedly breaking Aboriginal inheritance law and improving the creek crossing on his property.

Tony Maddox risks nine months behind bars and loses his real estate license for improving the gravel stream on his property in Toodyay, 85km north-east of Perth.

The gravel crossing vanished during wet weather and made his property inaccessible, prompting Mr. Maddox to lay concrete over it.

His neighbor filed a complaint with the WA Department of Planning, Land and Heritage to launch an investigation before charging him in February.

The improvement allegedly violates the state’s Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act.

“I can’t believe I’m being charged with a criminal offense for (an act) that I know nothing about,” Maddox said. abc.

The new driveway was built along Boyagerring Brooke, a stream that forms part of the River Avon catchment.

The prosecution’s statement of facts asserts that the stream has significant value to traditional owners in the region and Noongar mythology.

The statement of facts states that the Waugul rainbow snake lives in the stream and that any work on it could cause the creature to leave and the water to dry up.

The indictment alleges that the site has been “significantly altered and damaged” after sediment was removed, water was pumped into the creek, and a lake and fountain were constructed.

Maddox also did not seek approval from Aboriginal Affairs Minister Tony Buti or the Registrar of Aboriginal Sites, according to the prosecution.

The farmer said he was baffled by the allegation and had no idea about the Aboriginal Heritage Act.

“If this goes through, it will affect all farmers in Western Australia,” Maddox said.

The gravel crossing vanished during wet weather and made his property inaccessible, prompting Maddox to place concrete over it.

‘Every farmer crosses streams in his daily activities. There’s going to be a lot of searching for permissions.

He told 6PR that a gravel bridge had already been installed on the property before he moved in nine years ago.

Maddox claimed that the construction work merely ‘beautified’ the crossing and that it had been improved a year before the neighbor filed a complaint.

The real estate agent has been running his own business for the past 33 years and could lose his license if convicted.

He said he would be forced to fire seven people and that the whole ordeal had taken a toll on his mental health.

“It just tore me apart,” he said. ‘I’m broken’.