Barngarla Traditional Owners are fighting for access to a number of federal government documents regarding the proposed nuclear waste facility near Kimba, South Australia.
The Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation (BDAC) and its lawyers have requested the documents that the federal government relied on to choose the 900 hectare site more than 400 kilometres north-west of Adelaide
The argument over the documents is part of a federal court challenge launched by Barngarla people.
Jason Bilney is the chair of the BDAC. He told NITV Barngarla people were not properly consulted about the facility, and were excluded from a community ballot.
“It’s very disrespectful, very hurtful to my people as a community and to my past and present Elders,” he said.
“It’s a disgrace.”
After the Supreme Court overturned authorisation to drill on South Australia's Lake Torrens last week, Barngarla people are hopeful their fight can lead to protection for the Kimba site as well.
Jason Bilney, who is the Chairperson of the Barngarla Aboriginal Determination Corporation. Source: NITV.
Mr Bilney is joined in the fight against the facility by Lez and Dawn Taylor, who grew up in Kimba.
Standing at the site, which has been fenced off, Dawn Taylor said she’s deeply upset that nuclear waste could be stored on this Country.
“I can feel the presence of the old people being here, the ancestors all being here, I can feel it,” she said.
“Even when we were driving around, I could feel their presence, that they were watching me. I’m sad.”
'Destroy everything'
Ms Taylor said she’s concerned that her Country could be impacted, despite the waste facility only storing ‘low grade’ material.
“I know a lot of people say the waste dump [is] going to be low grade, but the point is they don’t know whether or not there’s going to be a spill and then it’s going to destroy everything in its path,” she said.
“Our land, our Country is more important to us than having a waste dump.”
Ms Taylor said her grandfather would tell her and her siblings stories about the area when they were children. He told her it was a meeting place for people travelling through the region.
Kimba is located over 450 kilometres north-west of Adelaide. Source: Supplied
“There’s a ridge line down there and in that ridge line that’s where they used to have the meeting place,” she said.
“My grandfather, that’s where he travelled through with my grandmother and their kids, my mother and aunties and uncles.”
Her brother, Lez Taylor said these stories are backed up by artefacts that were found during a cultural heritage survey of the site conducted by BDAC.
“There’s a water source on the ridgeline, there’re sandhills, when we were driving along there was a lot of artefacts we found along there,” he said.
“We were finding all those artefacts so we know that they’ve been here...”
A government desktop heritage study, conducted in 2018, ruled there were no registered Aboriginal sites.
Government officials didn’t talk to the Barngarla people for the study.
Barngarla Elder Harry Dare said the Traditional Owners of the Country should have been involved in this study.
“We know what’s on our Country, they choose not to let us go and have a look at that Country but we already know what’s out there,” he said.
'I still feel strong'
But regardless of what has occurred up to this point, Jason Bilney said Barngarla people will continue to fight for their Country.
“[The government] think they’re going to put [the facility] there, they’ve still got a long drawn out process and for any government, it doesn’t look good to go against First Nations people,” he said.
“I still feel strong, I still feel proud to keep up this fight for our people, being up there and doing it for our community.
“It has taken its toll for a lot of our family. It's sad but we’ve got to keep going.”
Barngarla woman Linda Dare said she hopes this fight means the voices of her people will be heard.
“We want them to stop what they’re doing, we want them to listen to us and hear us, take the time to sit down and listen and talk to us not disrespect us and put waste up on our Country,” she said.
