Garrett steps in on dingo fence row
Michael McKenna: 6/5/08
Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has intervened to stop work on Fraser Island’s controversial dingo-proof fences amid concerns that bulldozers have damaged sacred indigenous sites in the World Heritage-listed area. Construction stopped over the weekend after lawyers for the island’s traditional owners filed action claiming the Queensland Government had used a sham cultural assessment to fast-track the roll-out of 1.8m-high fences around communities and tourists spots on the island. Culturally important sites, including feasting areas known as middens, have been damaged by the $750,000 construction of the new fences - stretching up to 2.3km - around the townships of Eurong and Happy Valley this year.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23652152-2702,00.html
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Environment, History