Parks Australia pleads guilty for damaging a sacred site in NT National Park

A judge welcomed to Jawoyn land in Kakadu “We Jawoyn look after this place and we want you to look after it too” Other than traditional owners and rangers, few have been here in years. “I am humbled and appreciative and thankful” A dispute that reached the High Court has come home to the Northern Territory. Parks Australia is being prosecuted for building a walking track to the top of Gunlom Falls that went too close to a sacred mens site, against the wishes of traditional owners. “To that charge how do you plead?” “Guilty.” With the guilty plea lodged, custodians stepped up to explain what the site means to them. “This is a special place to all jawoyn people” “I want my spirit to be happy. I want the spirit of my ancestors to be happy.” Gunlom falls one of Kakadu’s most famous places and the pressure to reopen it to visitors is strong. For that to happen the relationship between the traditional owners and Parks need to be repaired. The NTs sacred site watchdog says that should begin with a hefty fine that reflects the seriousness of what went wrong. For its part, parks is arguing its sentence should be reduced because it's already agreed to pay a 500,000 settlement to traditional owners. I’d like to see them fined for what happened because my main concern is that if we don’t send a message to other traditional owners. They can put a stop to something like this. It will happen again I have faith in the judge, I guess we have a healthy relationship. This is the final step to what happened. The judge says she will deliberate tonight and deliver her sentence tomorrow.