Holy shit i am SO PLEASED TO SEE THIS TWEET ON MY FEED. My mum is one of the people thatβs been helping the Djapwurrung people protect these trees for the last two years (the fight to save the sites has been going on for way longer; two years ago was just when works were about to begin, and attempts to stop the destruction moved from council/legal offices to people literally sitting in front of the trees to block access by large machinery), so itβs an issue Iβve been watching from up close, and and itβs one that hasnβt seen mainstream attention, even though it should have.
There is a core group of individuals who have been on site for TWO YEARS. Other volunteers come in and out to help and live onsite for anywhere between a few days to a few months at a time, but thereβs a few individuals who have been on country for TWO YEARS, without pause. They have been camping, unceasingly, on the land to protect these sites (several trees with varying types of cultural importance, including an 800 year old birthing tree which has been the site of over 10,000 Djapwurrung babies being born) for two years. The sites havenβt been left unmanned even for a few hours since this all started.
One of these indigenous protectors has:
been deliberately sprayed in the face with weed poison by a local farmer
been endlessly targetted by the local cops, including being arrested for having an expired licence (even though he was driving a truck on a private field at the time, and not out on the road, so there was no grounds to arrest him) and put in jail for several months over this offence (even though a white would never be arrested for an expired licence. In the end when it finally got to court, the judge was like βYouβve imprisoned this man for months for an expired licence? What the fuck, get out of here, charges are dropped, give the man a warning and let him goβ
had the local MacDonalds threaten to call the cops on him for the βcrimeβ of loitering (read: eating a meal in-store)
had a different MacDonalds threaten to call the cops because he didnβt want to give the staff his name and phone number (the COVID restrictions require restaraunts to ask for phone numbers in case of a break out so they can notify people, but itβs not actually a requirement of diners to give those details, and the restaurant certainly doesnβt have the grounds to call the cops on someone for not supplying their number)
strained himself so much by insisting on staying on the land to protect the sites that he wound up hospitalised with various illnesses that struck him because he was physically and emotionally exhausted by the whole situation
walked from the site into Melbourne city, on foot, in an effort to raise awareness (over 200 kilometres/41 hours worth of walking)
The front line camp is alongside a busy road, and all the asshole locals and truck drivers who go past that are pissed about the protest make sure to express their displeasure by honking their horns loudly and repeatedly whenever they go by, whether thatβs at 2 pm or 2 am, which Iβm sure you can imagine does wonders for the protectors ability to get a good night sleep
Thatβs just a snippet of what this one person has gone through. That doesnβt cover the constant abuse faced by all of them, the attempts at property destruction, the attitude they get by locals whenever they go into town for supplies, the constant red alerts because someoneβs heard that the machinery is being mobilised and that theyβre moving to start works tomorrow. There were several occasions where police were called to disperse the protectors so that works could begin, and itβs only because there were more protectors than cops that everyone wasnβt arrested and dragged off.
I could literally go on for days with details about this. An archeologist came out to the site and was absolutely staggered by the stuff that was there β in addition to the trees themselves, there was more archeological evidence of the local indigenous tribe that had lived there, sitting untouched on the surface of the earth than this archeologist has seen at any other site throughout Australia. A detailed report was sent to the supposed Minister for the Environment, who summarily ignored it and gave her stamp of approval for the works to commence without reading any of the reports. The protectors went to court over this and it was found that yeah, the Environment Minister hasnβt done her job at all, and a full review has been ordered β- but the works havenβt been cancelled altogether.
All this for a road that will shave a few minutes of travel off the road that currently already exists. All this for a road thatβs got a speed limit of 80 that they want to boost to 110. All this for a road that could go a different route. Thereβs another route available that the protectors have been pitching for since the start, but VicRoads refuses to consider it for reasons they wonβt specify.
This route that theyβre insistent on not only cuts directly through several indigenous sites (some of the only ones left in Victoriaof this kind) it also costs around $630 million more. This route is full of hills and valleys that need to be flattened, and itβs twisty and turny. The Northern Route - the one protectors have been wanting since the beginning - is flat and straight, will be literal hundreds of millions of dollars less expensive, will take less time to complete, and doesnβt cut through any indigenous sites.
If you could sign this petition, that would be awesome. Here is another petition.
Here is a copy of an academic petition sent by RMIT to the Victorian government, signed by over 150 academics.
Here is an article written by an indigenous woman (which I am not, by the way; Iβm just a white woman who is outraged by what my government is trying to do to these people) on the topic that has some more information.
And thank you, @whitepeopletwitter , for sharing this.
