The consortium in charge of building the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) in New South Wales has claimed responsibility for destroying an Aboriginal rock shelter.
ACEREZ, a partnership between ACCIONA, COBRA and Endeavour Energy, was appointed by the New South Wales Government to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the Central-West Orana REZ transmission network.
In a statement, ACEREZ CEO Steve Masters said an Aboriginal heritage rock shelter had been damaged beyond recovery.
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“During construction of an access track on private property, an Aboriginal heritage rock shelter that had been identified in the project’s planning approval was damaged beyond recovery. The processes required to protect the rock shelter at this location were not fully implemented,” he said.
“We are deeply sorry. We apologise without reservation to the Traditional Owners and to the local community. The loss of this rock shelter is permanent and nothing we say can undo that.
“We have been contacting the Traditional Owners directly and will work with them to determine how this site and its story can be acknowledged and honoured from here.
“We are working with all relevant stakeholders to understand how this happened and to prevent this from occurring anywhere else on this project.”
ACEREZ said work on access tracks had been immediately paused and an internal investigation had commenced into the circumstances.
The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure has also begun an investigation.
Aboriginal rock shelters are natural caves, overhangs, or rock arches utilised by Indigenous Australians for thousands of years as refuges, ceremonial sites, and habitation areas.
Members of the Wiradjuri community told ABC News that ACEREZ must be held to account for the “inexcusable” destruction of the rock shelter.
Wiradjuri, Tubba-Gah, and Gamilaraay man Thomas Dahlstrom conducted Aboriginal cultural heritage assessments at the renewable energy zone, and said he was devastated the rock shelter had been destroyed despite the consortium knowing about it.
“This is one of the hardest parts to digest. When you know better, there’s absolutely no excuse,” Dahlstrom told the ABC.
“A cultural management plan was put out to prevent disasters such as this.”
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He said he discussed the cultural sites with ACEREZ several times, and stressed the need to block them off and barricade them from construction work.
“We were told they wouldn’t be harmed,” he said.
