More than five years after being destroyed by the Black Summer bushfires, Demandering Hut and Max and Bert Oldfields Hut in the ACT's Namadgi National Park remain burnt-out, fenced-off ruins, despite government promises to build two new structures in remembrance of them.
00:00Deep in the heart of Numadji National Park, the bush is coming back to life.
00:07But two heritage huts, destroyed when 80% of the park burned during the Black Summer bushfires, still lie in ruins.
00:14The fire destroyed 15 High Country huts, including Demandering Hut and Max and Burt Oldfields Hut.
00:20Greg Buckman has visited more than 80 different huts throughout the mountains.
00:24They're like little museums in the middle of the wilderness.
00:27It's sort of taken through this time tunnel back to, you know, times before the Second World War.
00:33He visited Demandering Hut seven years ago.
00:36Now it's obviously a complete wreck, so it's sad, it's definitely sad seeing it like this.
00:41And also sad knowing that it's been like this for five years now.
00:44It had lots of character, for sure.
00:48The ten huts destroyed by fire in New South Wales have all been rebuilt.
00:52A task that involved flying pieces in by helicopter.
00:56In 2023, the ACT government promised to build two new huts near the sites of those destroyed by fire.
01:02Yet here at Demandering Hut two years later, nothing has happened.
01:06In a statement, an ACT government spokesperson said archaeological and heritage assessments were being carried out at the sites to inform the next stages of the project.
01:16Heritage consultant Geoff Ashley wrote the methodology used to restore the huts and says that's not good enough.
01:22They can get on and do the project. They've just got to get on and do it.
01:25They've got Victoria and New South Wales rebuilding these huts and the ACT not getting there yet.
01:30He says the future of the heritage huts rely on people working together.
01:34It's not just about rebuilding huts, it's actually connecting to the community and that's what's missing in the ACT.
01:40That connection is not happening.
01:42And time may be running out.
01:44We've only got about half of the huts that we had some 50 or 60 years ago and I think that alone justifies the rebuilding of huts like Demandering.
01:54It would be good if they got their skates on.
01:56ACT residents forced to wait while New South Wales celebrates.
02:00James Tugwell, ABC News, Namadji National Park.
