Central Land Council

The Alice Springs Dam

Werlatye Atherre

The traditional landowners of urban areas have to deal not only with the social and cultural impact of past dispossession but continuing pressure to expand and develop any remaining land with little regard for its cultural and spiritual significance.

Until recently traditional landowners in Alice Springs lacked the legal protection and political strength to successfully resist development which would desecrate and destroy sacred sites. However, their struggle to defend sacred sites in the Todd Rive has been a turning point.

The fight to defend these sacred sites covered more than a decade and has focused on Northern Territory Government proposals to dam the Todd River for a recreation lake or flood mitigation dam.

A recreation lake was first proposed in 1979 and in March 1983 Northern Territory Chief Minister Paul Everingham announced construction near the Alice Springs Telegraph station would soon begin.

The lake would destroy and desecrate a number of sacred sites including Werlatye Atherre, and important part of the Two-Women Dreaming which extends north and south of Alice Springs connecting different language groups throughout Central Australia.

Traditional landowners had consistently told the Northern Territory Government that Werlatye Atherre, which was registered under the Northern Territory Government Sacred sites Act, could not be destroyed, but Mr Everingham was determined to proceed.

A few weeks after the announcement the traditional landowners established a protest camp near the Alice Springs Telegraph Station. The camp was visited by Aboriginal Affairs Minister Clyde Holding who promised Commonwealth action to prevent the destruction of Werlatye Atherre.

He proposed a joint Commonwealth-Northern Territory Government Tribunal to examine the lake proposal from all aspects. The traditional landowners maintained the protest camp for six months until a fire caused two tragic deaths and the protesters had to leave the camp area in accordance with Aboriginal tradition.

When the Tribunal delivered its report in August 1984 it found that the significance of Werlatye Atherre made the area unsuitable for any recreation lake. The Northern Territory Government reluctantly dropped the proposal but in 1988 a large flood claimed the lives of three Aboriginal river-campers.

Although the Telegraph Station proposal had been for a recreation lake not a flood mitigation dam, new Chief Minister Steve Hatton blamed the traditional owners of Werlatye Atherre for the deaths and the Northern Territory Government renewed its push. Deputy Chief Minister Barry Coulter announced feasibility studies into the construction of a combined flood mitigation and recreation dam at the Telegraph Station in April 1988.

A number of meetings were held over the next twelve months but the traditional landowners consistently rejected any proposal to damage or desecrate Werlatye Atherre and called on the Northern Territory Government to consider alternative flood mitigation.

Alice Springs Dam Part 2: Junction Waterhole

After ten years of failing to convince the traditional landowners to allow the destruction of Werlatye Atherre, the Northern Territory Government examined other locations for a dam. Junction Waterhole was the first choice and in 1989 the Northern Territory Government began to examine the engineering and consult traditional landowners.

In January 1990 the AAPA issued a certificate under the Aboriginal Sacred Sites Protection Act authorising a dam to be built at Junction Waterhole.

It was the second certificate issued. The first had authorised a dry flood mitigation dam but the January certificate authorised a dam half-full of water – a fact that led many to believe that the proposal was really a disguised recreation lake.

Chief Minister Marshall Perron announced the dam proposal and released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (draft EIS) and scale model for public comment in June. He told the media that the traditional landowners had agreed to the proposal following 'impeccable' consultations.

The traditional landowners were horrified: many had not been consulted at all and others had only been given half the story. None had the chance to seek expert advice or examine the detailed proposal and model now in display. The CLC engaged an expert dam engineer, Dr Stephen Webb, to review the proposal presented in the Draft EIs.

He found that the dam was more like a recreation lake than a flood mitigation structure, and said the proposal was poorly designed, would do little towards saving lives and could not be built under the conditions of the AAPA Certificate.

The CLC lodged a submission on the Draft EIS with the Northern Territory Government stating that the Government had ignored some traditional landowners and misled others during consultation. The Northern Territory Government dismissed these objections and gave approval for the dam to proceed. In January 1991 preliminary work began and the CLC applied to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Robert Tickner, to stop the project under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act.

Mr Tickner held discussions with Northern Territory government ministers while work continued. In March traditional landowners found that sacred sites were already being damaged, and under pressure from the Commonwealth, the Northern Territory Government called a temporary halt to work.

A meeting was held between officials from both governments and the CLC on 25 March 1991, and the CLC was able to demonstrate the inadequacy of the consultations. All parties – including the Northern Territory Government officers – agreed on the need for work to stop for further consultations with traditional landowners, but the Chief Minister refused to accept the advice of his staff and ordered work to resume.

Late that night Mr Tickner issued a declaration to protect the sacred sites through a temporary halt to work so that traditional landowners could be consulted.

Over 100 traditional landowners met with representatives from the Chief Minister's office, ATSIC, AAPA and the CLC to discuss the dam. Angry at the lack of consultation and the damage already done the traditional landowners rejected the proposal.

A few days later the AAPA withdrew its certificate and the Northern Territory Government announced that it would redesign the dam and seek permission for a revised proposal in the same area. A month later the Northern Territory Power and Water Authority (PAWA) lodged an application with the AAPA to build a similar dam in the same location.

The design would still damage and destroy a number of important sites but had been modified to hold less water. In the words of one traditional landowners it was 'just the old dam with a hole in it'.

PAWA and AAPA organised a series of meetings to consult the traditional landowners but the answer was always the same: they would not approve any proposal that desecrated and damaged sites.

In October the AAPA advised PAWA that it would not issue a certificate to authorise work. AT the direction of the Minister responsible for the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, Max Ortmann, the Authority reviewed its decision but in January 1992 advised him that it could not issue a certificate. Under the 1989 amendments to the Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act the Minister had been given the power to override the decision of the AAPA and issue a certificate without the Authority's approval and on the 4 March Mr Ortmann announced that he would do just that.

At the request of the traditional landowners the CLC arranged a meeting with Mr Ortmann and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Robert Tickner but he discussion was cut short when Mr Ortmann abused traditional landowners and stormed out. The CLC applied to Mr Tickner for declaration to protect the sacred sites under threat and on 16 March he issued a declaration for a thirty-day halt to work. he later extended this to sixty days and appointed Mr Hal Wooteen QC to conduct an inquiry into whether he should make a permanent order to protect the sites.

Mr Wootten received submissions from the CLC, the Northern Territory Government and other interested parties before delivering his report and recommendations to Mr Tickner. On 16 May 1992 Mr Tickner issued a declaration under s.10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act to protect the sacred sites around Junction Waterhole for a period of twenty years, effectively preventing the construction of the proposed dam.

It was only the second s.10 declaration ever made and was a major victory for the Arrernte traditional landowners who had fought for so long.