The struggle of the Djab Wurrung people to protect their sacred lands from a proposed duplication of the Western Highway in south-western Victoria, continues to garner support.
On September, 10 dozens of academics and researchers released the following open letter calling on Victorian premier Daniel Andrews to intervene to save the sacred Djab Wurrung trees.
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We, the undersigned, are researchers, scholars and educators who work on questions of transport, policy, planning, climate, culture, ecology and Indigenous sovereignty. We work at institutions that have committed to the safeguarding of Indigenous cultural heritage.
We write to express our grave concern and disappointment about the Victorian government’s plans to bulldoze the sacred trees of the Djab Wurrung people of Western Victoria in order to construct a new alignment of the Western Highway.
The current plan involves the destruction of 3000 trees, including many considered sacred by the Djab Wurrung people. This landscape and its natural and cultural values are important to all Victorians.
Victoria has entered into negotiations toward a Treaty with the First Peoples of Victoria. A project with this scale of impact on First Peoples and Country contradicts Treaty principles of a respectful relationship between sovereign peoples. It also contradicts the principle of free, prior and informed consent as enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
We call on the Victorian government to:
• Halt works on the proposed Western Highway Alignment project;
• Withdraw the eviction notice for the Djab Wurrung Heritage Protection Embassy;
• Enter sincere and meaningful negotiations with the Djab Wurrung Heritage Protection Embassy as to the design of the Western Highway Alignment project so as avoid destruction of Djab Wurrung heritage;
• Undertake a review of Victorian heritage protection policy to ensure that it accords with the Guiding Principles for the Treaty Process as set out in Sections 22-26 of the Advancing the Treaty Process with Aboriginal Victorians Act 2018, particularly in relation to self-determination, fairness, and equality; and
• In light of the decision making and design process for the Western Highway, in partnership with Victorian Traditional Owners, establish an Indigenous heritage awareness training program to be required for all staff employed in Victorian infrastructure policy, design and construction agencies and their contractors, including relevant ministers and their advisers.
Signed,
Professor Jago Dodson, RMIT University Professor Libby Porter, RMIT University
Associate Professor Wendy Steele, RMIT University Dr Melissa Neave, RMIT University
Dr Karyn Bosomworth, RMIT University
Dr Bronwyn Lay, RMIT University
Dr Laura Mumaw, RMIT University
Dr Ian McShane, RMIT University
Bonnie Rivendell, RMIT University
Dr Natalie Osborne, Griffith University
Dr Rachel Hughes, University of Melbourne
Briony Wood-Ingram, RMIT University
Dr Francis Markham, The Australian National University
Professor Peter Phibbs, University of Sydney
Professor Christopher Ziguras, RMIT University
Dr Ellen van Holstein, University of Melbourne
Dr Peter Chambers, RMIT University
Professor Jon Barnett, University of Melbourne
Dr Elissa Waters, University of Melbourne
Tina Soundias, University of Melbourne
Adam Moore, University of Melbourne
Dr Thomas Bach, University of Melbourne
Associate Professor Fred Cahir, Federation University Australia
Thea Hewitt, University of Melbourne
Professor Simon Batterbury, University of Melbourne/Lancaster University Associate Professor Brian Finlayson, University of Melbourne
Professor Robin Goodman, RMIT University
Dr Deborah Cleland, Australian National University
Dr Samantha Capon, Griffith University
Professor Sarah Bekessy, RMIT University
Associate Lecturer Nadia David, RMIT University
Dr Kate Shaw, University of Melbourne
Hon Principal Research Fellow Joan Staples, RMIT University
Dr Briony Towers, RMIT University
Dr Crystal Legacy, University of Melbourne
Marita McGuirk, University of Melbourne
Dr James Rowe, RMIT University
Professor Brendan Gleeson, University of Melbourne
Professor Peter Gell, Federation University Australia
Associate Professor Melinda Hinkson, Institute of Postcolonial Studies Associate Professor Kurt Iveson, University of Sydney
Dr Elizabeth Taylor, Monash University
Professor Rob Watts, RMIT University
Professor Leonie Sandercock, University of British Columbia
Tessa Toumbourou, University of Melbourne
Dr Louise Crabtree, Western Sydney University
Samantha Mannix, University of Melbourne
Dr Ian Woodcock, Swinburne University of Technology
Stacey Campton, RMIT University
Associate Professor Wendy Stone, Swinburne University of Technology
Shan Windscript, University of Melbourne
Eric Keys, RMIT University
Sofie Onorato, University of Melbourne
Amy Hodgson, University of Melbourne
Christopher O'Neill, University of Melbourne
Molly Mckew, University of Melbourne
Dr Sahar Ghumkhor, University of Melbourne
Ben Kunkler, University of Melbourne
Associate Professor Marg Liddell, RMIT University
Dr Mia Martin Hobbs, University of Melbourne
Adam Hembree, University of Melbourne
Anton Donohoe-Marques, University of Melbourne
Dr John Stone, University of Melbourne
Dr Kathryn Davidson, University of Melbourne
Jacqueline Storey, University of Melbourne
Dr Iderlina Mateo-Babiano, University of Melbourne
Jason Brailey, RMIT University
Dr Jemima Amery-Gale, University of Melbourne
Rebecca Quin, Faculty of Science
Professor Tim Edensor, Melbourne University / Manchester Metropolitan Freg Stokes, University of Melbourne
Michael Francis, University of Melbourne
Charity Edwards, Monash University
Dr Alexandra Brown, Monash University
Dr Salman Panahy, University of Melbourne
Dr Luis Mata, RMIT University
Sarah Cooley, University of Melbourne
Ellen Corrick, University of Melbourne
Adjunct Professor Hartmut Fuenfgeld, RMIT University
Dr Hannah Robertson, Monash University
Dr Catherine Phillips, University of Melbourne
Dr Kate Dooley, University of Melbourne
Professor Naomi Stead, Monash University
Carol Que, University of Melbourne
Dr Anna Hurlimann, University of Melbourne
Dr Judy Bush, University of Melbourne
Dr Cathy Oke, University of Melbourne
Dr Janice Barry, University of Waterloo, Canada
Professor Tony Dalton, RMIT University
Associate Professor Sharon Harwood, James Cook University
Jock Gilbert, RMIT University
Dr Simon Connor, Australian National University
Dr Elizabeth Straughan, University of Melbourne
Chabel Khan, University of Melbourne
Raffaella Cresciani, University of Melbourne
Josiah Lulham, University of Melbourne
Associate Lecturer and Industry Fellow Lucy Maxwell, RMIT University
Dr Bridget Keane, RMIT University
Associate Lecturer Kyle Bush, RMIT University
Associate Professor Kirsten Parris, University of Melbourne
Dr Ata Tara, RMIT University
Dr Philip Belesky, RMIT University
Professor Carl Grodach, Monash University
Jen Lynch, RMIT University
Paula Hendrikx, University of Melbourne
Dr Ilan Wiesel, University of Melbourne
Louise Dorignon, RMIT University
Dr Ben Cooke, RMIT University
Dr Ascelin Gordon, RMIT University
Sally Olds, University of Melbourne
Dr Cecily Maller, RMIT University
Associate Professor Yolande Strengers, Monash University
Dr Crystal McKinnon, RMIT University
Professor David Jones Deakin University
Dr Melisa Duque, Monash University
Associate Professor Elizabeth Grant, RMIT University
Dr Tim Werner University of Melbourne
Priya Kunjan, University of Melbourne
Professor John Fien, RMIT University
Dr Sarah Robertson, RMIT University
Dr AdelineTay, University of Melbourne
Associate Lecturer Una Stone, RMIT
Dr Karen Olsen, University of Melbourne
Senior Lecturer Fiona Harrisson, RMIT University
Amaara Raheem, RMIT University
Associate Dean Neal Haslem, RMIT University
Bronwyn Clarke, RMIT University
Marius Foley, RMIT University
Toni Roberts, RMIT University
Professor Laurene Vaughan, RMIT University
Tania Ivanka, RMIT University
Stuart Geddes Industry Fellow, RMIT University
Dr Oliver Vodeb, RMIT
Dr Jenny Grigg, RMIT University
Lisa Rae Bartolomei, RMIT University
Associate Professor Yoko Akama, RMIT University
Dr Mittul Vahanvati, RMIT University
Georgia Janetzki, RMIT University
Dr Anne Beggs-Sunter, Federation University Ballarat
Floris van der Marel, Swinburne University of Technology
Associate Professor Mick Douglas, RMIT University
Yolanda Dawson, RMIT University
Dr James Carey, RMIT University