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Ms SYLVIA HALE [5.45 p.m.]: A few weeks ago we had the first anniversary of Greens member of Parliament Michael Organ's historic win in the Federal seat of Cunningham. It is appropriate to mention this event because the issue I speak on tonight was a vital part of that election success. Yet, just over a year later, the Labor Government has still to learn the lessons. Sandon Point is one of the last green spaces in the Illawarra that joins the escarpment to the coast. It is the site of a 6,000-year-old Aboriginal burial ground and is an environmentally valuable estuary and wetland. The community campaign to prevent the ongoing destruction of Aboriginal, European and environmental heritage at Sandon Point will surely be a thorn in the side of Wollongong City Council and this Government for years to come. This urban planning fiasco, pushed ahead in blatant disregard of heritage and environmental considerations, has left a cynical community questioning the relationship between large corporations and government.
The dispute surrounds the proposed 20-stage housing development by Stockland, which, if not stopped, will total nearly 1,200 houses. Currently, Stockland is attempting to develop stages one to six of the proposal. The campaign to protect Sandon Point stretches back almost 20 years. The Sandon Point Aboriginal tent embassy was set up at McCauley's Beach in December 2000 and is staffed 24 hours a day. Indigenous people have come together at the request of Uncle Guboo Ted Thomas to watch over the land and a sacred burial site, approximately 6,000 years old, which was uncovered during a storm in 1998. The local non-indigenous community has also taken a stand. A community picket and information centre was established in March 2001 and is also staffed 24 hours a day. A community blockade on St Valentine's Day 2002, attempting to stop destruction equipment being moved onto the site, was met by approximately 60 police, armed security guards and dogs. The resolve of the more than 300 community members present was only increased by these heavy-handed tactics.
Last year this Government came under so much pressure over Sandon Point that it was forced to refer the development to an independent commission of inquiry. The report released last month includes significant environmental and heritage protection measures and sweeping changes to the Stockland proposal, vindicating the community's 15-year campaign to protect the area. Recommendations include a reduction in the number of houses in the development, as well as larger creek setbacks and additional studies into Aboriginal heritage. With the findings of the commission of inquiry seen as a damning indictment of both Stockland and Wollongong City Council, the community is celebrating a partial victory. However, the campaign to save and protect Sandon Point is far from over. It must be noted that the findings and recommendations of the commission of inquiry are just that: findings and recommendations. The power to put them into effect lies with the Minister for Infrastructure and Planning.
Although Stockland was reported in the local media to have welcomed the findings, its actions since suggest otherwise. Less than a week after the release of the commission of inquiry's report, Stockland began excavation works on the site. The works are in an area recommended by the commission for preservation due to its environmental importance, an area that also contains Aboriginal artefacts and the endangered central estuarine forest complex. Members of the Aboriginal community put their own safety on the line once again in an attempt to stop the work. My Greens colleague Lee Rhiannon spoke to Minister Debus's office, which advised that the matter was a council responsibility and that the National Parks and Wildlife Service would not get involved until damage to the endangered ecosystem was already done. This response exemplifies the buck-passing and short-sightedness of this Government.
I am informed that since that time, National Parks officers have been on site—not to protect the area but to attempt to force local Aboriginal people to sign a consent for the destruction of yet more of their heritage. Fortunately they were unsuccessful, and concerted community opposition to this damaging development continues. I call on the Minister for Infrastructure and Planning to step in to sort out the mess at Sandon Point and to protect this important heritage site once and for all. The conduct of the Government on this matter has been shameful from start to finish. It has one last opportunity to redeem itself in the eyes of the local community in the Illawarra.