Local Indigenous people divided over SA government’s plans to disturb heritage land for golf course development

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The state government is a step closer to realising its ambition to turn North Adelaide Golf Course into a world class venue to host LIV Golf. The Aboriginal Affairs Minister has now authorised the disturbance of Indigenous heritage, with conditions, but some members of the Kaurna community say the safeguards fall short.

Transcript

00:00This area near the River Torrens is an important Aboriginal cultural location, traditionally

00:08used for camping, ceremonies and burials.

00:11The Minister says it will now be protected from major disturbance when the North Adelaide

00:16golf course is redeveloped for Live Golf.

00:19So the only things that can occur there are the sort of things that usually occur, resurfacing

00:23of lawn, maintaining services.

00:26It is an offence to excavate, disturb or damage Indigenous heritage without the permission

00:31of the Minister.

00:33Kaya Ma has now granted that authorisation, with what he says are 31 strict conditions,

00:40including the protected area around the Par 3 course, where a Government Aboriginal mission

00:45used to be located.

00:46The native title holder, Kayak, has been consulted.

00:50Look, this is great news for the Kaurna community.

00:54I mean, it certainly is good to hear that our ancestors won't be disturbed in that particular

01:03area of the Par 3 golf area.

01:06But the Minister concedes Aboriginal remains may be unearthed on other parts of the golf course

01:12redevelopment site.

01:13And that has some members of the broader Kaurna community worried.

01:17This Labor government, as far as I'm concerned, has no respect for our history.

01:24And yes, they pay us the lip service while they're rubber stamping development.

01:28In 2023, Kaurna elder Ian Carter was critical of how the discovery of Indigenous remains

01:35was handled at the multi-billion dollar Riverley housing estate in Adelaide's North.

01:39You would not like us and you would jail us if we went to West Terrace Cemetery and started

01:45digging things up that we didn't like on there.

01:47The Minister says he accepts there is division about the golf course redevelopment within the

01:52Kaurna community.

01:53I don't think it's at all surprising that groups of Aboriginal people will have different views.

01:57The government says any Aboriginal remains which can't be avoided during the redevelopment

02:02will be recovered by an archaeologist and reburied at a location to be determined.

02:07The intention is for that to be as close as possible to where they were found.

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