Central Land Council

The Land is Always Alive

Barrett Drive

In December 1982 the Northern Territory Government ordered a contractor to blast and bulldoze a sacred site so that Barrett Drive in Alice Springs could be re-aligned to provide better access to the Casino. The desecration occurred without warning in the midst of negotiations with custodians despite a written assurance from the Northern Territory Government that work would not proceed until the issue was resolved. The sacred site, known as Injalkaljanama, was part of a sacred Caterpillar Dreaming and was registered under the Northern Territory Government's own Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act, but because of a legal loophole charges against then Lands and Housing Minister (now Chief Minister) Marshall Perron had to be dropped.

Mr Perron's actions left a legacy of mistrust:

Now it's Marshall Perron – the man who never stops. He never listens for one bit. At Barrett Drive we put up a sign: '$1,000 fine' for somebody doing the wrong thing. That was for a court action. He never think one bit of it. He just cut off that caterpillar tail. I been go myself and look at the tail! I said 'He don't want a caterpillar's tail. He don't want a cat. He want's to kill them off.' I asked the Minister, I said to him, he broke his promise. I told him. 'Look. You know, broken promise by Northern Territory Government by Minister for Land. That's not speaking like that respectful way as a Minister should do. That's not doing a good job for the Territory! He's nothing!' All those politicians know me. When I was Chairman I keep going protesting up to Darwin and anywhere around here or Tennant Creek, you know. I don't think there's sacred site protection of Northern Territory Government protection in this country. I'm on the Sacred Sites leadership to tell them what to do. But I don't think they ever take notice. See? When a problem come. Right oh. Deal with you a good way up front, but bad way behind the back.
Wenten Rubuntja 1992

Custodians for the site are deeply upset, not only at the desecration of Injalkaljanama, but also because there was no punishment of those who had broken non-Aboriginal as well as Aboriginal laws. The custodians reported many cases of illness and misfortune as a result of the desecration and, four months after the event, there was record rainfall and flooding of the Todd River. Earth-moving machinery near the site was washed downstream and buried in sand by floodwater. According to custodian Rosie Furber: 'Those Dreamtime people made those ranges a long time ago, but they are still there. The Dreamtime can still cause problems and hurt people today. It's really dangerous to talk about changing those places because people can get killed.'