To the editor,

I would like to respond to the letter in the Bugle from Boral regarding Aboriginal Heritage matters at the Boral Dunmore sand mine near the Minnamurra River. 

Boral’s claims of extensive consultation with Aboriginal people, their questioning of the proximity of the sand mine to the Minnamurra Massacre site, and the downplaying of cultural significance of the area for Aboriginal people really needs to be challenged. 

They gloss over the fact that traditional Aboriginal custodians Gary Cains and Sharrylin Robertson, supported by Illawarra Land Council, have appealed to the Federal Government to protect the high cultural heritage values of the site from sand mining. Their claims are contradicted by the findings of Dr Corrigan, the independent consultant appointed by the Minister to report on the need to protect these heritage values. 

In this report Dr Corrigan said: 

• The mine area as of particular significance to Aboriginal People in accordance with their Laws and Customs; 
• The Heritage Management Plan prepared for Dunmore Sand & Soil Pty Ltd is not considered to provide sufficient protection for the potential burials from injury or desecration.
• There is evidence indicating potential burials being in close proximity to, or overlapping part of, the approximate location of the 1818 Minnamurra Massacre site as set out in a map prepared by Professor Lyndall Ryan, as part of the University of Newcastle’s Frontier Massacre Mapping Project. 

Dr Corrigan’s report also concluded that to avoid the destruction of Aboriginal heritage values, the entire area should be protected from sand mining. Boral’s claimed consultation doesn’t necessarily equate to listening and we believe that Boral has not heard what Aboriginal people have been telling them. 

Their selective citing of the IPC finding that the massacre was unlikely to have occurred within the proposed mine area is not supported by the extensive work done by Professor Lyndall Ryan on the Frontier Massacres and which has been acknowledged by Dr Corrigan. 

Sewing doubt about this history is disrespectful to the living Aboriginal descendants of the massacre, who are genuinely concerned about the desecration of this cultural landscape, it perpetuates notions of invisibility and undermines truth telling. 

Howard H Jones Secretary, Gerroa Environmental Protection Society PO Box 71 Jamberoo