By Amelia Willmer
A preliminary look for cultural heritage artefacts at the controversial Condamine River crossings at Cambanoora Gorge has already yielded significant finds.
Githabal Traditional Owner Melissa Chalmers and her nephew Nathan went out to the gorge last week after a Stop Work order was sought on the $2.2 million project to pour concrete into four of the 14 gorge river crossings.
Native Title Lawyers in Brisbane have told the council it is in breach of the Native Title Act by failing in its duty of care to conduct a proper cultural heritage assessment of the sensitive area which is subject to a Native Title claim by the Githabul Traditional owners, Ms Chalmers said.
She said the lawyers last week insisted that the council immediately apply a voluntary stop work order on the contentious project.
The council offered to comply immediately and is now in talks with the lawyers and the ten Native Title claimants.
“My nephew Nathan and I went out to the gorge for a quick look,” said Ms Chalmers.
“It was very informal and very preliminary, nowhere near the rigorous observation required for a comprehensive cultural heritage assessment.
“Yet, in just a couple of hours, at just two of the four targeted crossings, we found definite evidence of artefacts.
“This demonstrates a duty of care to conduct a much broader and more comprehensive assessment by doing a proper cultural heritage survey, which should have been done at the outset, not after a project this size has been approved.
“It is entirely probable a proper survey will find objects that date back thousands and thousands of years,” Ms Chalmers said.
She has extensive experience in the conduct of cultural heritage assessments.
Since October 2021, she has been advising energy giant Axiona at the massive McIntyre Wind Farm outside Warwick.
She said more than 9000 artefacts have been discovered.
The Five Stage assessment has taken three years to reach Stage Four.
“That shows you how much time and research is needed to conduct a proper cultural heritage assessment, “ Ms Chalmers said.
“Cambanoora Gorge is obviously not such a massive area as the wind farm but it could take many months to properly assess the 14 river crossings.
“People also need to know that cultural heritage is not just about tactile artefacts and visual cues, like tree markings.
“Cultural heritage is also about the sense of place, the spirit of the place, the sense of being, the feeling of ancestors in the landscape, the feeling of belonging.
“Cambanoora Gorge is a sacred place. It is documented in the Githabul creation story. The gorge is part of a narrative that goes back hundreds of thousands of years.”
She said she envisages that a comprehensive cultural heritage survey of the gorge crossings would reveal evidence of many stone-tool artefacts, but also visual evidence of Scar Trees, Canoe Trees and Sign Trees.
“There could also be Mark Trees where the Old People manage the branches to make a circle as a sign to guide to a special place,” she said.
