Show Australia's heritage respect

The World Heritage-listed Burragorang Valley is a living museum that the NSW Government is poised to drown beneath silt-laden dam water - without the permission of the traditional owners, the Gundungurra people, and without properly surveying the cultural heritage that would be destroyed.

Last September, the Federal Government told the NSW Government to re-do months of work mapping the indigenous heritage in the Blue Mountains. This came after the Berejiklian Government lodged a heritage assessment that was found to be ‘flawed, inaccurate, and insensitive’ because:

over 860 archaeological deposits affected by the plan to raise the Warragamba Dam wall have not been surveyed in the NSW Government’s impact assessment.
the traditional owners of the land, the Gundungurra people, have not been properly consulted to compile the heritage assessment.

A heritage assessment is supposed to protect a significant Aboriginal area from heritage desecration – the kind exemplified last year by Rio Tinto’s shameful decision to blow up ancient aboriginal heritage in Juukan Gorge.

Yet, the NSW Government is proceeding with the plan to raise the dam wall without re-doing this work.

Indigenous leaders like Kazan Brown are rightly outraged, saying they were “locked out by the Government’s disrespectful consultancy firms” and “have been told no matter what we say the project will go ahead.”

We are running out of time to stop another cultural disaster from occurring within one of Australia’s premier World Heritage Areas by raising the Warragamba Dam wall. We must as a first step commit to getting the impact assessment right.

Niche Environment and Heritage is the private consulting firm that developed the ‘flawed, inaccurate, and insensitive’ cultural impact assessment for the Berejiklian government. Their assessment proves that the State Government – and their hired help - are unwilling to treat indigenous culture and Australia’s heritage with the respect it deserves.

Please ask Heritage NSW’s Executive Director, Sam Kidman, to replace Niche with a competent, impartial and culturally sensitive contractor to complete the heritage assessment for this critically important part of Australia.

By signing this petition, you’re joining thousands of Australians demanding that the NSW State Government take seriously its responsibility to protect Australia’s heritage.

Make your voice heard. Sign now.

Send your message now

To Sam Kidman,   
Last year, Rio Tinto’s decision to blow up caves containing ancient aboriginal rock art in Juukan Gorge, Western Australia, sparked outrage from shareholders, the public, and made international headlines, as the mining company understood and disregarded the significance of the site. 
Once again caves containing priceless and ancient rock art are facing destruction, along with tools, burial and camp sites, and other places of historical significance.  
The NSW Government is poised to destroy more ancient remains in the World Heritage-listed Burragorang Valley - also known as  ‘Sydney’s Juukan Gorge’ ; unlike Rio Tinto, it does not care to understand the sites it plans to destroy, having submitted a cultural heritage assessment that failed to survey hundreds of historical and culturally significant sites. 
The NSW State Government has proven itself unwilling to treat indigenous culture and Australia’s heritage with the respect it deserves. It has not only rejected the Federal Government’s call to re-do the entire survey; it is compiling a revised report using a consulting firm that has already produced 'flawed, inaccurate and insensitive' research to support raising the Warragamba Dam wall.  
I am writing to ask that the consulting firm, Niche Environment and Heritage, be replaced so that a competent, impartial and culturally sensitive assessment is undertaken before this critically important part of Australia is destroyed forever.   
Australia should at least know the great cost of the NSW Government’s plan to raise the Warragamba Dam wall.   
Sincerely,

I would like to BCC myself