Some aussies are racists either subconsciously or intentionally like the rogue redhead Pauline Hanson, but manage to keep their obnoxious thoughts to themselves – Has the women no soul? She obviously has no brain or she wouldn’t come out with this crap. No wheels or writing is not a sign of a primitive society – just look at the Inca. Ms Hanson obviously hasn’t been to Machu Picchu. Perhaps a civilisation would be better judged by how they bury their dead? These pictures were sent to me by Kate Gadsby author & historian from Wiradjuri country from various historical sources.
There are aspects of old Indig culture that seem harsh by modern standards & versions of today’s culture that would have been unthinkable pre-colonisation. Foreigners were not welcomed to country unless they were known about beforehand or wore the appropriate headdress or carried the right credentials such as message stick/ stone. I asked Freddy Walford years ago what would happen if a stranger swam over the Barwon to the Gingie side of the river. He said simply “they would kill him”. WTCs were more along the lines of ‘this is our land & these are our rules’. Rule breakers were severely punished as the survival of the group meant the sacrificing of some individual desires. If you fell in love with a boy/girl of the wrong lineage/ kinship you had to elope & be exiled or face the wrath of the relos. Inbreeding within long lived isolated societies allows recessive diseases take hold when the population bottlenecks. Look no further than European royal families for haemophilia or widespread cretinism among the British aristocracy. (Monty Python)
I tend to think land management & the longevity of the society are much better indicators of a civilisation’s success. Ms Hanson’s not the only politician lacking cultural awareness or sensitivity but she’s certainly the most upfront. There was a predictable backlash across the board for these comments, including this from Tanya Plibersek who was previously minister for Environment & Water
“I think it’s only for someone who doesn’t know anything about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture who can call it primitive,” Ms Plibersek told News24.The minister called out Senator Hanson’s lack of knowledge, pointing to Brewarrina Fish Traps, which are thousands of years old, as an example of early agricultural Indigenous stewardship.
“I bet she doesn’t know about that. If you don’t take the time to learn about a culture you’ve got no right to call it primitive,” she said.
And I’ll bet Ms Plibersek doesn’t know anything about CMTs either & signed off renewable energy projects that are flattening hundreds of them in the central west.
We all want cheap renewable power & less carbon emissions but where does Pauline’s “Aboriginal industry” stand in this? Here is a post from Andrew Gee the local member for Calare (Independent ex- Nats) on fb – forgive him for confusing Scartrees with ringtrees – his heart is in the right place at least.
Yes there are ringtrees that are formed naturally but like the natural TinTs (accidental woody epiphytes) but they are few & far between. I found one up at Dongan the other day where a broken branch had fallen onto 2 other redgum branches & stayed there. Cultural ringtrees don’t have dead sections but the tree itself can be dead – see below. Smooth barked eucalypts commonly known as ‘Gums’ seem to inosculate more readily but really these so called ‘Primitive’ people could merge metal given enough time.
Where is the EPA (National Environmental Protection Agency) & the DCCEEW (Dept. of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment & Water) in all this? The REZ zones have become a free-for-all where over-clearing can be offset & the minister just directs “a variation to the conditions attached to approval … in response to non- compliance”. To be fair these companies are stuck somewhat between rocks & a hard places. Solar farms are mostly situated on land previously used for growing grain, so people stress about food security. Windfarms require hills & high country that were used for grazing livestock & still can be after the completion of the project. Steeper country retains the most CMTs because there was no economic reason for farmers to remove them. Many of the scars have grown over – just look at Yuranigh’s grave at Molong where the only carving still visible is on a long dead tree.
If Land councils describe CMTs in the 20,000-hectare REZ as ‘of low significance’ they can be legally bulldozed. Even those on the State heritage register marked as sacred are being destroyed by contractors & subcontractors. The rock shelter near Mudgee was part of the REZ cultural management plan & site recorded but it was still totally smashed. There is no oversight into the construction of access tracks for heavy machinery – only a slap on the wrist for mistakes. “The government’s $140m Biodiversity Conservation Investment Strategy was designed to make sure that any “unavoidable” impacts to the environment are balanced by “equivalent conservation measures” Kamilia Palu Yahoo News 30 November 2025. You can replant native trees, but you can’t replant CMTs ….
The Federal Environment Dept. found “no evidence of non-compliance” under the EPBC (The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act) when 60 odd native bird chicks had their homes flattened by this company. TOs (Traditional Owners) lodged emergency protection applications under the federal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act after the rock shelter destruction. The cowboys running ACEREZ have admitted to ‘internal failings’ & said at the time “The loss of this rock shelter is permanent, and nothing we say can undo that.” Why not ditch the CEO Steve Masters for a start? The CEO of Rio Tinto Jean-Sebastien Jacques & 2 senior execs Chris Sailsbury & Simone Niven fell on their swords after the Juukan gorge disaster so why not these bush bashing bastards?
In 2022, Ms Plibersek signed a new Partnership Agreement with the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance. State and territory Govt.s are responsible for recognising and protecting our Indigenous heritage, including archaeological sites. Why didn’t anyone intervene in the Central West REZ zone – just more weasel words & bureaucratic BS. Under the EPBC Act, there are penalties for anyone who takes an action that has or will have a significant impact on the national heritage values of a place. Is there nothing of cultural significance in this part of Wiradjuri country? What is inland Australia seen as anyway – a bloody wasteland? NO! you can’t have a 10k tunnel under the Blue mountains like the 50k of tunnels we have in Sydney BUT YOU CAN have over 700,000 tonne p/y of Sydney’s finest rubbish to incinerate in a waste-to-energy plant near Lithgow (of course it will be safe … would we lie to you?) The nations bureaucrats need to grow some gonads because the great Orange wave is rolling across the green hills of the central west and heading for Canberra.
