Nagana Yarrbayn Wangan & Jagalingou Cultural Custodians 

MEDIA STATEMENT

Wednesday 23 October 2024

~ New evidence proves urgent action needed to protect sacred springs

~ Supreme Court case to uphold cultural rights, environment law still on foot 

 ~ Government inaction “a death sentence for sacred sites, cultural heritage and the environment”

The Nagana Yarrbayn Wangan & Jagalingou Cultural Custodians have responded to an ABC report on new peer-reviewed science that shows current open-cut mining at Adani’s Carmichael Mine threatens the sacred Doongmabulla Springs on their lands. 

The study, which has been published in a peer-reviewed international journal, finds Adani’s Carmichael mine is likely to drain water from the Springs. A group of independent scientists found some of the water in the Doongmabulla Springs is over 500,000 years old, and that the spring is fed by “multiple groundwater sources”, with dewatering “likely to divert flow away from these springs and reduce discharge”. It proves the Springs are connected to aquifers being impacted during open-cut mining at the mine.

Nagana Yarrbayn Senior Cultural Custodian, Adrian Burragubba said: “The evidence that the open-cut mine threatens the Springs is now overwhelming. For over a decade, we have warned about the threat to the Doongmabulla Springs posed by Adani’s Carmichael coal mine. This new peer reviewed science vindicates our concerns and highlights the urgent need for Governments to act before the mine permanently damages our most important sacred site.

“The next Queensland Government after Saturday’s election – and the current Federal Government – must act to protect Doongmabulla Springs, as the science shows the threat of irreversible harm from Adani’s mine”, he said.

The Nagana Yarrbayn Wangan & Jagalingou Cultural Custodians have taken the Queensland Government to the Supreme Court to force it to act to protect the springs, and uphold their cultural rights protected under the Queensland Human Rights Act. 

The custodians are still awaiting a decision on a dismissal application filed by the Queensland Government. In the meantime, they had also asked the Federal Environment Minister, Tania Plibersek, to intervene on breaches of Adani Bravis’s federal environmental approvals, but so far the Federal Department’s enquiries have led to no information or action.

Mr Burrugguba said: “We opposed this mine all along, because we knew Adani couldn’t be trusted to protect our lands and waters, that they had a vested interest in their destruction, and that the Government couldn’t be trusted to put our rights and the protection of the water and the environment ahead of mining royalties. We are proven right. And even now that the evidence is becoming clear for all to see, the State and Federal Governments obfuscate, delay and deny. Their inaction is a death sentence for our sacred sites, cultural heritage and the environment”. 

One of the report’s authors, Professor Matthew Currell, has highlighted the “huge risk” from having given Adani a green light before a high level of understanding about the significant spring systems and groundwater dependent ecosystems had been established. He says that scientists, regulators and the mining company are “playing catch up and allowing environmental damage to happen with limited ability to bring things back and remediate things once that damage is done”.

Mr Burragubba says: “Wangan Jagalingou cultural custodians have been warning of this for over a decade. Adani’s current mining is destroying our most sacred site, and breaching our human rights in doing so, and Governments won’t do anything about it. It is why we have taken matters into our own hands and will prosecute our case to protect the environment and uphold our cultural rights through the courts. These ‘let it rip’ miners and governments must be held to account”, he concluded.

The Doongmabulla Springs are an ancient water source of immense cultural and environmental significance. They have sustained life in an arid landscape since time immemorial. The Springs are the final resting place of the Mundangurra (the Rainbow Serpent) in Wangan and Jagalingou peoples’ ancestor dreaming and are central to Wangan and Jagalingou people’s cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. The Nagana Yarrbayn Wangan & Jagalingou Cultural Custodians hold Indigenous traditional knowledge, cultural authority, and obligations to protect the sacred Doongmabulla Springs. 

Available for comment:

Adrian Burragubba – Senior W&J Cultural Custodian and Nagana Yarrbayn spokesperson

— For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Anthony Esposito,
Nagana Yarrbayn adviser, on (m) 0418 152 743 or (e) info@wanganjagalingou.com.au