City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder admits to damaging Aboriginal heritage site while building fire breaks

The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s lawyer has petitioned the court for suspended fines after admitting to damaging an Aboriginal site of cultural significance while building firebreaks with heavy machinery. The Goldfields local government entered written pleas of guilty to two charges relating to the excavating, destroying, damaging, concealing or altering of an Aboriginal site. During the appearance in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Monday, prosecutor Lorraine Allen said the damage was done at Mulyinyu Rockhole, a Piccadilly Street lot in Mullingar. The court was told the city carried out firebreak construction works at the site between November 1 and December 31 last year. During the works, rocks and dumped items were identified as a hazard and a grader was used to help level the land — causing damage to the site. A large loader was then used on the site to collect about eight tonnes of material. Ms Allen said the city did not have consent or a permit from the registrar of Aboriginal sites to have the equipment on the site. She said the city had “co-operated” with authorities and made “full admissions” to the offences. Lawyer Jordan Walker, representing the city, told the court it was accepted the offences were “serious” but his submission was they were at the “lower end” of offences of this kind. Mr Walker said suspended fines would be appropriate in the case and applied for a spent conviction to be granted. He suggested the circumstances were similar to a case when Fortescue was handed two fines of $5000 suspended for a year when they breached WA’s Aboriginal Heritage Act. Mr Walker said in both cases an internal “communication breakdown” had caused the offence to take place. He said by way of explanation the site — which was historically used as a quarry that shut down at the end of World War I — had not been previously “flagged” as a heritage site in the city’s system. Mr Walker told the court the city was committed to “learning from the mistake” and had taken steps to ensure it would not occur again. Among the material submitted to the court for the sentencing was an affidavit from city engineering director Lui Camporeale which listed the initiatives and spending the city had invested in supporting local Indigenous people. The charges included one count of bringing digging equipment, lifting equipment or explosives on to regulated land without the prior approval of the minister or the registrar and one count of excavating, destroying, damaging, concealing or in any way altering any Aboriginal site. The matter will come before the court for sentencing on Thursday.