00:00Virtual Hayes, PKKP traditional owner, welcome to Stateline.
00:08What does this project mean to you and the PKKP people?
00:11It's part of who we are, part of our DNA.
00:15It's named after my maternal grandfather as well, so it is significant.
00:21We want to have that same sense of walking into the rock shelter for the first time.
00:28That is what we want to achieve and we've got future generations behind us
00:33and we need to bring them along this journey as well.
00:36We want to make sure that when they go and join us on country,
00:41that we're able to give them the history of what we've been able to achieve.
00:46To what extent will this help heal from Rio Tinto's destruction of the original rock shelter?
00:52When we went back for the first time after the destruction, it was unbearable to look at
00:57and you'd stand on the southern side and you'd shake your head,
01:00but we couldn't turn our backs on, firstly, our Bruganigurama community.
01:09We wanted to do what we can to ensure that they understand that we've done what we can
01:17to the best of our ability, our cultural knowledge, and to be able to bring in organisations
01:24to be able to produce as close as possible to the original rock shelter.
01:32And Birchall, do you think it will be open to the public?
01:35We are a very progressive organisation and that's not going to be out of the question.
01:40For us, it's a conversation that we need to take back to the community and look at ideas
01:47on how we're going to be able to use the rock shelter.
01:51We're not just going to build it and just walk away and never ever go back on country.
01:56How could this project serve as a reminder, Birchall, of what happened
02:00and prevent something like the Djughan shelter destruction ever happening again?
02:05That is the reason why we've signed a co-management agreement with Rio Tinto.
02:11And we want to make sure that we share our cultural knowledge
02:15and the significance of every cultural feature on our country
02:20to ensure that we never go through this pain ever again.
02:24We know we're not the only traditional owners that see their significant sites being destroyed.
02:31We know that we can't rely on legislation because if we had to do that,
02:38then we only have to look back to 2020 to look at the results from the legislation.
02:45And Birchall, what are you hoping to get out of your visit to the replica caves in France?
02:50We want to be able to go and look at the design, the engineering
02:55and bring a lot of that learning back with us.
02:59I think the advantage that the construction happened in France
03:04is that they've had a real model there that they're able to work from
03:10while we've only just got photographs and memories to look at.
03:14Have a great trip and thanks for talking to Stateline.
03:16Yep, rightio. Thank you very much.
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