'Dan Andrews squanders $660 million of taxpayer money'
The Andrews government used the good news of lockdown lifting to distract Australians from a destructive and wasteful project.
On Monday, while Daniel Andrews made light-hearted jokes about reaching “a little higher up the shelf” to celebrate the hard work of Victorians on his Instagram page, something more sinister was in motion behind the scenes.
It has been confirmed that while we lifted our beers and enjoyed donuts, 150 police were moving in to the sacred Djab Wurrung heritage site, to forcibly remove people from their cultural lands.
I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that while the entire state was distracted, and just weeks before we are legally allowed to leave our homes and return to protect these sacred sites, the government delt its largest blow yet, cutting down a 350 year old Directions Tree.
One twitter user shared their disgust.
“The world should know the Australian government is continuing to commit acts of cultural genocide & environmental crime. A 350 yr old ‘directions tree’, sacred to the Djab Wurrung people, was chopped down today … an 800 yr old tree to follow. Heartbreaking.”
- @Meldawson6
The 800 year old tree mentioned above has seen over 50 generations born inside of a hollow in her trunk, and the 350 year old tree that was cut down yesterday had been shaped to resemble a woman. The area is a part of the culturally significant song lines of the Djab Wurrung people.
Why, may you ask, would anyone actively destroy such a beautiful and sacred part of the Australia?
To build a road. A four lane highway that would destroy 3000 trees and cut only three minutes off existing travel time to Ararat. This Western Highway project is costing the government $660 million dollars of taxpayer money. This 12.4km leg of the project, which connects Buangor to Ararat, alone is costing us $157 million and has been criticised for going $40 million over budget.
Am I the only one who is looking around and thinking that $660 million dollars could be better spent elsewhere? Why isn’t is going into aged care? Or into the health care system? Or towards increasing pension rates?
This is such a slap to the face. Especially for Boomers who fought so hard for civil rights legislation and strove for equality and recognition that resulted in the Racial Discrimination Act (1975) and the Sex Discrimination Act (1984), seeing their hard work undone.
What do you think? Are you disappointed in the Dan Andrews government? How would you prefer the government spend $660 million? Do you think we should be protecting these cultural sites?
For more information on the project, and on the people protecting some of Australia’s most sacred heritage sites, visit dwembassy.com.
If you’re disappointed about this news, make a call.
Premier Daniel Andrews (03) 9651 5000
Planning Minister Richard Wynne (03) 8683 0964
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Gabrielle Williams (03) 9096 8587
Transport Minister Jacinta Allen (03) 8392 6100
Aboriginal cultural sites, whilst important, should not stand in the way of progress. After the Hindmarsh Bridge debacle I tend to be a bit cynical about what constitutes a sacred site or one with cultural significance. I read that the Aboriginal Land Council in the Hunter region wanted to claim the entrance to Newcastle harbour as a traditional fishing site and, surprise, surprise, any vessel passing over that site had to pay a fee. As the Aboriginal history was never written down but passed from generation to generation by word of mouth there will always be the chance of misinformation being passed down.