Second win in Murray river cultural heritage cases
“We shouldn’t have to keep going to court to make sure our cultural heritage is properly protected, and Traditional Owners are genuinely listened to. Our knowledge of Country should be part of these decisions from the beginning.”
Vince Kirby
It’s a mighty brave thing to take one case to court – it’s an even braver thing to take two.
Today, we celebrate an important second legal win for our client Vince Kirby, after he successfully challenged the cultural heritage approval for an artificial engineering project at Vinifera, along the Murray River.
The Victorian government conceded that Traditional Owners were not properly consulted and the approval was made in error. The Supreme Court has ordered that the decision to approve the project’s flawed Cultural Heritage Management Plan be set aside and sent back to the government to be remade lawfully.
This is an important win for Aboriginal cultural heritage on Wadi Wadi Country. And it comes just a few months after Vince successfully challenged a related project downstream at Nyah.
But it’s also a frustrating reminder of what it takes for First Peoples to protect their cultural heritage.
Alongside his community, Vince has spent years arguing that decisions about these floodplain forests and wetlands must properly consider Wadi Wadi cultural heritage and Traditional Owners must be listened to.
For Vince, these cases are about protecting a living cultural landscape – where rivers, floodplains, wetlands, culture and generations of Wadi Wadi knowledge are deeply connected.
As Vince says, "The river can’t survive without its floodplains, and the floodplains can’t survive without the river. Our people have understood that connection and cared for these places for thousands of years."
"Floodplains, wetlands, lakes and creeks are part of the river’s natural filtering system. You can’t treat them as separate from the river. Whole intricate ecosystems are working in harmony here and have been for thousands of years."
Vince Kirby
So, what happens next for the Nyah and Vinifera forests?
These wins don’t necessarily mean the projects are stopped for good. But they do mean the existing cultural heritage approvals cannot stand – and any decisions about what happens next must be made again.
That gives Vince and other Traditional Owners another opportunity to have their voices, knowledge and cultural heritage properly considered before decisions are made about Wadi Wadi Country.
Vince and his community will keep a close eye on what happens next. For now, this is a significant moment – two hard-won legal victories that mean decision-makers must reconsider how cultural heritage is protected on Country.
