Efforts to save sacred trees in Djab Wurrung country have been dealt a savage blow. Alex Milne reports.
Djab Wurrung Heritage Protection Embassy
More than 1000 people rallied in Melbourne on September 10 in solidarity with the Djab Wurrung people fighting to defend a sacred songline and trees from being destroyed by the Victorian state government.
The protesters demanded the government halt its plan to demolish the trees.
Speakers denounced ongoing colonisation and said the treatment of the Djab Wurrung was just the latest in a long line of attacks against Indigenous people by the state government.
A red alert was issued by the Djab Wurrung Heritage Protection Embassy on September 11 after police and VicRoad workers arrived near the protest camp sites set up by Traditional Owners to protect sacred trees from a $672 million highway duplication project in south-western Victoria.
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.
Support for the Djab Wurrung Heritage Protection Embassy continues to grow, nearly a month after the Victorian Labor government gave Traditional Owners and supporters two weeks to vacate the protest camp site.
Support is continuing to grow for the Djab Wurrung Heritage Protection Embassy, in south-western Victoria, in the face of police threats. The protest camp was set up by Traditional Owners to defend sacred lands under threat from a highway duplication project that will cost $672 million to save motorists an estimated three minutes of travel time.