Parks Australia, which manages the world-heritage listed Kakadu national park, has been charged under the Northern Territory’s Sacred Sites Act with damaging an area near the spectacular Gunlom Falls, one of Kakadu’s most popular attractions.
The Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority alleges that Parks Australia built a walking track on a sacred site at Gunlom “without permission, close to a ceremonial feature of the sacred site that is restricted according to Aboriginal tradition”.
If convicted, Parks Australia will face a maximum fine of $314,000.
“It is good that AAPA was able to listen to the concerns of the traditional owners and do a thorough investigation,” the authority’s chairman, Bobby Nunggumarjbarr, said.
“These things have happened in the past, but we really need to work together to make sure things happen in the way that the traditional owners want them to.
“I want to make sure all the sacred sites are protected in the future for the benefits of the traditional owners and the custodians and all the visitors.”
In July, a longstanding feud between Parks Australia executives and the Kakadu board of management led to a vote of no confidence in senior management by the board and traditional owners, who said the relationship was “broken” and “irretrievable”.
Allegations of serious mismanagement were raised. A series of letters referred to at least one out of control bushfire that destroyed park facilities and objects of historical and cultural significance late last year.
Senior Bunjti traditional owner Jonathan Nadji wrote in a scathing letter to the director of Parks Australia, James Findlay: “I personally nearly perished voluntarily fighting the fire” at the East Alligator ranger station.
The board and rangers also raised concerns about a 2019 helicopter crash in which three employees were injured, which is currently being investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
Traditional owners had major concerns about the damage at Gunlom Falls, one of the most popular and beautiful attractions in the park.
The environment minister, Sussan Ley, met traditional owners on a visit in August. A few days later, Findlay resigned.
In a statement issued at the time, Ley thanked Findlay for his “contribution to the long-term infrastructure planning that will benefit commonwealth parks and traditional owners for decades to come”.
