The next step in worldwide recognition of the Budj Bim landscape is a dream come true for Sandra Onus.
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The Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation chairperson has worked for almost half a century to reclaim and protect the ancient landscape of her people.
“It was back in the ’70s. I used to lobby government, I suppose, about the significance of these areas… so that’s where it started,” she said.
“People thought I was mad. Then they started to realise the actual significance of this lake and what it meant to the wider community as well.”
After many years of work by the local indigenous and wider community, governments are now also taking notice.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited Budj Bim on Friday, announcing the first step in a UNESCO World Heritage listing. Premier Daniel Andrews and federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg also toured the area.
Mr Turnbull said his government was placing Budj Bim on Australia’s World Heritage tentative list.
“If successful, and we anticipate it will be, the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape will become the first Australian place to be world heritage listed exclusively for its Aboriginal cultural values,” he said.
“A world heritage listing would be a very appropriate recognition of its significance and its heritage values.”
Budj Bim dates back more than 6600 years and is considered one of the world’s first engineering projects, predating the Egyptian pyramids. The area is also one of Australia's oldest and largest aquaculture systems and is evidence of a large, settled Aboriginal community.
An $8-million state government pledge was made earlier this month to transform the site into a world class tourist attraction.
Mr Andrews said the tentative heritage listing marked a significant milestone in the journey for official recognition.
“It’s a fantastic project and it’s about sharing this space. It’s about economic development for Aboriginal people, the Gunditjmara people, delivered by the Gunditjmara people and that is what self-determination is all about and that’s what cultural heritage is all about and what love of country is all about,” he said.
International heritage listing would help bring the Budj Bim cultural landscape to the world, Mr Frydenberg said.
Speaking at the Lake Condah announcement, Mr Frydenberg said the move would expand opportunities for the area.
“This is something that we need to share with the world because it is so special,” he said.
“From a local perspective this will be a great source of tourism for the local area as we welcome people nationally and internationally to see the history and the heritage that we’re privileged to share.”
Mr Frydenberg said he expected the tentative listing to be approved “very shortly” and a formal report would be developed over the next 12 months.
“It would be Australia’s 20th World Heritage listing and Budj Bim would join with the Tasmanian wilderness, with the Ningaloo area, with Kakadu and other sites to be respected and to be promoted nationally and internationally,” Mr Frydenberg said.
Gunditjmara elder Denis Rose said the next step was the culmination of years of work.
“It has been a long haul, we’ve probably got a bit frustrated at the process at times, but I think we’re in right spot now, we’ve got all the evidence, we’ve got the reports… now’s the time to put it together,” he said.
“We have had a great lot of community support from business, from government, from farmers, from volunteers, just a whole range of people who have assisted to get us to where we are today.”
While acknowledging there was some way to go, Ms Onus said the community was finally confident of the future – as shown in a small message stick gifted to the Prime Minister.
“It depicts the road from here to Canberra and back,” she told Mr Turnbull. “We hope when you come back it will be with the answer that we’re looking for.”