Now, questions have been raised about why Ms Plibersek overlooked the written advice of the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, which has legal cultural authority over the area and found the dam would not have impacted any sites of cultural significance.
Roy Ah-See, a respected Wiradjiru leader and former chair of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, said the decision made a “mockery of our people’s culture”.
“We’ve never heard of this lady,” Mr Ah-See told Ben Fordham on 2GB radio.
“This makes a mockery of my people, my old people that fought for rights in this country.”
Mr Ah-see said he was concerned the federal government was “listening to the wrong people” and argued the mine would have provided “economic empowerment for us as Aboriginal people”.
He said there was a stringent process that determined who could join Aboriginal land councils and argued it was “dangerous” that “others outside of the system can stop programs”.
“What chance has our local Aboriginal land council got to utilise our land?” he asked.
“We own 40 per cent of the country but we’re broke.”
