Dear editor,
Your Page 6 story in last week’s edition August 6, Iona was added to the government’s National Park network, was a nice story.
Whilst I am very grateful about the purchase, however, I was a little disappointed when I read NSW Minister for Environment Penny Sharpe’s final comments regarding consultation with Aboriginal communities.
I am a local raised in Cobar.
I nominated Iona station to the National Parks acquisition team when the property was first listed for sale mid last year.
I also tried to get the Indigenous Land Corporation to purchase it—they were not interested.
I contacted Minister Tanya Plibersek (then Federal Minister for Environment), whose office contacted me via phone and advised they could/would not help. When I contacted Ms Sharpe’s office, they did NOT reply.
So I then contacted the NSW Heritage Council to nominate the station as an ‘Aboriginal Place’ under the NSW Heritage Act.
Roy Barker Jnr from the Heritage Council phoned me and said he would put Iona on the list for protection. Not the outcome I was seeking, but any protection is better than nothing.
Then out of the blue I received an email from NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service providing a link to nominate land of Environmental and/or Heritage value.
So I quickly submitted Iona for acquisition and was advised that budget constraints and other factors would need to be considered before the purchase of land could take place.
Fair enough.
The property remained for sale for many months until a few months ago.
During the sale process, I have never been contacted by National Parks or Minister Sharpe’s office, never received any type of acknowledgement regarding the nomination, no consultation about the significance of the Rock Art site. Nothing, zero, zilch!
I write this as I thought maybe the Cobar folks are entitled to some of the facts.
Wilyam ‘Bill’ Lord, Cobar
Editor’s note: Following receipt of Mr Lord’s letter, The Cobar Weekly contacted local Aboriginal elder Elaine Ohlsen to see if she had heard of any consultations prior to the purchase. Aunty Elaine said she hadn’t.
The Weekly also contacted Minister Sharpe’s office who passed our information request onto National Parks and Wildlife who responded: “Assessment of lands being considered by NPWS for acquisition are strictly confidential and conducted in accordance with a robust process that upholds privacy requirements.
“Therefore no consultation can be carried out during this process,” the National Parks & Wildlife spokesperson said.
“The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service strongly supports and collaborates with Traditional Owners on land use once a property is transferred to the national parks reserve.
“Consultation to be held in the future will build on the current relationships with Aboriginal groups to develop meaningful partnership arrangements for the property at Iona,” the spokesperson said
