Aboriginal corporation lodges legal fight over Victoria Park
The Yagara Magandjin Aboriginal Corporation (YMAC) made the application under federal legislation that allows the Commonwealth to declare long-term protection of a significant Aboriginal area under threat of injury or desecration.
'It was a complete shock when the premier came out with his stadium plans,' YMAC spokeswoman and Yagarabul elder Gaja Kerry Charlton said.
'He said the park would be protected from stadiums; I thought the park was safe. Now the government wants to destroy it.'
Charlton said Barrambin was 'living Country, possessing sacred, ancient and significant relationships within our cultural heritage systems'.
'We know this is a place of great significance and history, not only for Yagara people, but for other First Nations and non-Aboriginal people as well.
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'We are very concerned there are ancient trees, artefacts and very important ecosystems existing there.
'There may be ancestral remains. We stand resolute in our responsibility to protect it.'
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