• W&J Cultural Custodians take Qld Government to the Supreme Court
• Government ‘not just careless but callous’

First Nations rights advocate, Adrian Burragubba yesterday launched new litigation aimed at preventing the destruction of the Doongmabulla Springs by putting a stop on the Carmichael coal mine.

Mr Burragubba is the Senior Cultural Custodian of the Wangan & Jagalingou Nagana Yarrbayn Cultural Custodians, who have authorised the case.

Despite many warnings, the Queensland Government has failed to act. Reports provided to the Government reveal Adani’s Carmichael Mine has consistently exceeded its environmental limits that were imposed to protect the springs.

The open cut mining poses an imminent threat of permanent and irreversible harm to the Doongmabulla Springs. The Springs are a significant sacred site of Wangan and Jagalingou ancestor dreaming, Mundagutta (the Rainbow Serpent).

Mr Burragubba is seeking the intervention of the Supreme Court because the Government has failed to act to protect the Doongmabulla Springs consistently with the Environmental Protection Act.

Mr Burragubba, Senior W&J Cultural Custodian says: “Working with scientists, we have identified threats of serious environmental harm to the Doongmabulla Springs Complex, the site of immense spiritual, cultural, and environmental value for us. Our connection to Country depends on the conservation, maintenance, and protection of this significant sacred site.

“If water extraction and pollution from the Adani mine are allowed to continue, the Springs will be destroyed forever, permanently breaking our spiritual connection to our Ancestors and Creation stories.

“In failing to act to stop the harmful impacts of Adani’s mine, the Queensland government has allowed the threats to multiply and in so doing, they have denied us of our Cultural Rights that are protected by human rights laws”, he said.

Mr Burragubba has been urging the State to take protective measures since April 2021, when the cultural custodians first raised the alarm on the threat to Doongmabulla Springs with the Minister.

W&J cultural custodian, and First Nations lead for Youth Verdict, Murrawah Johnson says in support of the action: “This is about our water. The evidence of harm being done by this project, with the license of the State, shows what we have been warning about.

“The Government’s refusal to address this means that it is not just careless but callous about our cultural rights. There is no way for them to deny that they haven’t heard our concerns about the need to protect our water and our ancient culture; or seen the evidence of harm.

“The Government is not best placed to make decisions about what happens on our Country. As custodians, we are the ones who understand Country and had the foresight to recognise the threats to our water. The environmental approval should not have been given”, she said.

Ms Johnson successfully led the Cultural Rights action in the Waratah Coal land court case. Using the top legal team behind the Waratah case and building on strong precedents in environment and human rights law, the W&J Cultural Custodians will seek an order from the Supreme Court to force the Government to protect Doongmabulla, safeguard cultural heritage, and defend human rights.

Background

On 23 November 2024, lawyers acting for Mr Burragubba and the Cultural Custodians issued a letter to the Minister for Environment and Science, Leanne Linard, requesting the Minister “urgently exercise her available statutory powers” under the Environmental Protection Act “to prevent any further open cut mining activity”, until she can be “satisfied with sufficient scientific certainty that there is not, and is no threat of, environmental harm to the Springs from that activity”.

The case will be directed specifically at protecting the Doongmabulla Springs using human rights and environmental protection laws.

The Cultural Custodians have commissioned two environmental science reports, prepared by independent experts, Professor Matthew Currell and Professor Adrian Werner, to review the evidence.

The Minister and Department have received these reports. These expert reports demonstrate that a considerable number of exceedances for groundwater levels, groundwater quality, and spring water quality have occurred since the mine was approved and de-watering commenced in 2019.

The evidence shows that Adani is consistently breaching its Environmental Conditions without any effective regulatory intervention by the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI).

Contravention of those Conditions provides a statutory basis for, and requires, action.
There is an imminent threat of permanent and irreversible harm to the springs and their associated cultural values.

On 2 March 2023, DESI issued an Environmental Protection Order (EPO) to Adani, which prevents it from underground mining. The EPO was issued following Adani’s submission of its numerical groundwater modelling report, which predicted unauthorised impacts to the Springs from underground mining, based on the current mine plan.

The EPO does not specifically restrict continued open cut mining or dewatering. DES appears to have taken the view that the extent of harm from open cut mining activities remains unknown.

Lawyers for the Cultural Custodians will argue that DESI has sufficient material already to be aware that the environmentally relevant activities (ERAs) of Adani are causing, or are likely to cause, environmental harm to the Doongmabulla Springs.

The Environmental Authority does not authorise environmental harm to the Springs, and none of the Conditions can be taken as authorising such harm. The Minister and DESI must act but have failed to do so.

Available for comment:
Adrian Burragubba – Senior W&J Cultural Custodian and Nagana Yarrbayn spokesperson
Murrawah Johnson – W&J cultural custodian, and First nations lead, Youth Verdict

For more information and to arrange interviews:
Anthony Esposito – NYWJCC adviser – 0418 152 743