Kariong land rally held outside Tesch's office
More than 50 people and three police officers were attracted to a rally in Woy Woy against the rezoning and development of land in Kariong owned by the Darkinjung Aboriginal Land Council las Friday afternoon.
The rally called for the preservation of the "Kariong Sacred Land" and called on Member for Gosford Ms Liesl Tesch to "step up for our environment".
Placards at the rally, held outside Ms Tesch's office, said the land was zone E2 for good reason and that "Native wildlife need their habitat more than land councils need money".
The rally was addressed by a number of speakers including Guringai elder Aunty Colleen Fuller, an independent Upper House candidate at the State election, and organiser Mr Jake Cassar of the Coast Environmental Alliance.
Aunty Colleen said the Guringai people were the traditional owners of the land: "This is Guringai land. It always has been and always will be.
"It will never be Darkinjung land," she said to strong applause.
The theme was echoed by a number of speakers.
Mr Cassar said he was disappointed that Ms Tesch, who he admired as a highly-motivated person, had not become involved.
He claimed that the Darkinjung Land Council was a corporate entity, which represented only about five per cent of indigenous people on the Coast.
Another Alliance speaker Mr Paul Craig said the Darkinjung had "no ancestors and no bloodlines".
"They are a non-existent tribe. Why should they have the right to rezone and develop sacred land?"
State Greens MP Ms Sue Higginson last Thursday called on the NSW Government to purchase the land from the Darkinjung Aboriginal Land Council for addition to the protected area network and compensate the Land Council fully.
"The Greens do not support the proposed development of Kariong Sacred Lands and call for it to be protected for its ecological and cultural significance," she said.
"Kariong Sacred Lands is home to important threatened species and habitat and is said to house significant aboriginal cultural heritage."
Darkinjung Land Council chair Mr BJ Duncan was reported last week saying that opening up the Land Council land for development was important to self-determination.
He said this at a meeting about the Future of Housing on the Central Coast at Laycock St Theatre last Tuesday, February 14, before it was disrupted by protesters opposed to the Six Cities plan, according to Peninsula residents who attended.
Mr Duncan reportedly denounced the Guringai, stating there was insufficient evidence for them to lay any claim to traditional ownership.
SOURCE:
Media release, 17 Feb 2023
Rhonda Williams, CEA