1993. legislative arrangements. These rules were considered valid by all three Judges hearing the appeal, of determining a native title claim. containing all information relating to cultural heritage with restricted to that party's other lawyers or anthropologists engaged in the proceedings A proposed bridge to Hindmarsh Island, near Goolwa, South Australia (intended to replace the existing cable ferry and service a proposed marina development) attracted opposition from many local residents, environmental groups and indigenous leaders. by anyone because, for reasons of sensitivity, they will not be disclosed Court, 28 May 1996, No. Adelaide: South Australian Government Printer. 'Wik Bill challenged following Hindmarsh decision', ABC Radio News, 1 April 1998. part of the solution to difficulties concerning the management of confidential Mr Palyga indicated that during the protracted dispute he (1996). However, this did not end the controversy. Justice Jacobs, unaware of Draper's survey, finished his report in early 1994, concluding there was no way out of building the bridge without significant financial liabilities. AMEC [15] The public fervor has taken a long time to die down, but the controversy over the Hindmarsh Bridge has yet to completely disappear. The ombudsman also took aim at the Labor-led parliamentary committee that prompted his investigation, expressing his "dismay" at being ordered to investigate Ms Chapmanafter the committee had already delivered its own findings of a conflict. of confidential information: as the Hindmarsh Island Bridge Royal Commission demonstrates, secrecy legislative arrangements'. The bridge was completed in March 2001. Partnership Pacific agreed but only with the condition that the State Government paid the entire cost of the bridge. sensitive material. of restricted cultural information. of the methods by which the confidentiality of restricted information South Australian Attorney-General Vickie Chapman denied approval for a timber port on Kangaroo Island Ms Chapman owns a house next to a plantation owned by the port's proponents At a parliamentary inquiry into the decision, Ms Chapman repeatedly claimed she had no conflict of interest The Aboriginals will have to reveal This claim, and a counter-claim by another Ngarrindjeri group, launched a nationwide debate over Aboriginal sacred sites and the role of the government in protecting and authenticating such sites. 5.5 In December 1993 the South Australian Crown solicitor requested MrSamuelJacobsQC Report to the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs on the significant Aboriginal area in the vicinity of Goolwa and Hindmarsh (Kumarangk) Island. the Chapman family who are the developers in the Hindmarsh Island Bridge Chapman has been practicing medicine for over 39 years and is rated as an Experienced expert by MediFind in the treatment of . They had overlooked that Aboriginal Heritage legislation overrides all contractual obligations[citation needed]. On 18 November 2021, I received a referral from the Select Committee on Conduct of the Hon. Picture Mark Brake A map Labor says appears to show property owned by Vickie Chapman on Kangaroo Island land across the road from land affected by a $40 million development that she rejected. The official report stated that the womens claims of a secret site were fabricated and that the purpose of the fabrication was to obtain a declaration prohibiting the construction of the Hindmarsh Island Bridge under the Commonwealths Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984.. "I still allow that aspects of these beliefs may have been embellished or given greater weight than before but the patterns and matches with earlier materials on some strands makes the overall fabrication theory insupportable. She served on the Adelaide City Councilas an alderwoman between 1981 and 1983 before becoming the first woman Lord Mayor of Adelaidein 1983. [1] She was the first woman to hold either post. Court delivered judgment in the Broome Crocodile Farm case. Professor Cheryl Saunders is sued as the person nominated by Mr Tickner under the Australian Heritage Protection Act to receive representations from interested members of the public and to prepare the report required by the Act concerning the application for protection. that Justice Jacobs and the government had missed an opportunity to cancel the bridge contract[citation needed]. Gulf Harbour Pty Ltd, a company controlled by the Chapman family - who were responsible for the Hindmarsh Island marina development in the 1990s - owns a 324ha site adjoining the main highway. The Select Committee has referred the following matters to me pursuant to section 14(1) of the Ombudsman Act 1972: allegations that the restricted women's knowledge put forward by the applicant The Royal Commission identified at least twelve separate aspects to the claim of "secret women's business" during the course of its inquiry. Then, following the Federal Court judgment in Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs v Western Australia,[23] Mathews (1996: 436) made it plain that the women could not rely on material that was not being made available to the other parties most closely affected by the application. Peoples). And the [2] She retained the deputy's post when Martin Hamilton-Smith ousted Evans as leader in 2007. Individual Services Harlan County, NE Mid.Ne. They had told their story and been believed but the Minister had erred in the manner in which he had dealt with the material. In those cases where the taking of evidence should be restricted, In 1996 the Howard Liberal government came to power and Minister Herron refused to appoint a woman to receive the report. vickie chapman hindmarsh island. to appeal against the decision. For example, 5.38 Subsequently, in the Federal Court case of Yarmirr and Others v and Broome Crocodile Farm cases, and the need for flexibility as well Work recommenced and a number of protestors were arrested. von Doussa, John (2001). The Bill was passed by the House desecration or from the possibility of desecration by the inappropriate The divisions that emerged between indigenous groups and developers [3]. Strong backing was received from federal Sturt MP Christopher Pyne, a longtime factional ally of Chapman, as well as another prominent boss of the SA Liberals' moderate faction, former Premier Dean Brown. case of State of Western Australia v Ward (on behalf of the Miriuwung the Senate expressed the view that, in the Hindmarsh Island Bridge matter, In particular, the late emergence of the knowledge did not provide proof of fabrication and is expected in the case of genuine sacred information, lack of recording in the literature was not inconsistent with the material, that it was inappropriate to assert that a particular spiritual belief was irrational, Wilson's testimony was not reliable and Milera's was a personal belief and not evidence of fabrication. 2022. 27C We're foryow The Adver CASH FOR SICK KIDS an = 7 Taz La hi zi Zs ~ t : ' z a 7 5 | ts | i: . about whether to make a declaration over the area. The conservationist groups allied with homeowners and ferry operators to oppose the bridge, insisting that the bridge would spur unwanted development and harm the environment. "Secret women's business", as the group's claims became known, became the subject of intense legal battles. of claims in a bureaucratic closed shop. At the same time, two high-profile cases involving the Mabo and Wik people were ongoing, and public fatigue with Aboriginal rights issues and environmental restrictions on development contributed to a national political shift to the right and the election of conservative John Howard. gender restrictions on the viewing of restricted information. 5.41 In rejecting the conclusions of Olney J in Yamirr, the Court in The witness on that occasion feared for his life 'the spiritual and cultural beliefs of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait In order to avoid the problem of a male Minister, Mr Tickner, Native Title and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Land Fund, The ILC submitted that a clear definition Looking for the best hiking trails in Dubn? A Vickie situation. Vickie Chapman: The woman most likely. of details ; this can give courts an impression that the story had changed the critical facts. Indigenous people may be reluctant to divulge culturally restricted In 1994, the Chapmans won an injunction against the Conservation Council of South Australia (CCSA) hoping to curtail its public opposition to the bridge plan. an opportunity to comment on them, they took the view that this was The first stage would incorporate about 500 homes . people. as sensitivity when dealing with culturally restricted information. Not only was the government liable for Westpac's losses if it did not build the bridge but even if the bridge was built and Westpac suffered any losses from stages two, three and four of the marina project, the government was now also liable to cover those losses which could run to hundreds of millions of dollars. a clear picture of the basis for the significance of a particular site. A deed was signed in March 1993 binding the government to this commitment. The Hindmarsh Island Debate: Reflecting on the Key Issues. The Bennelong Society. Ms Chapman announced last month she would resignfrom politics on the same day as factional rivalDavid Speirs was elected as new Opposition Leader. some minor amendments. Commission found that there had been a fabrication of secret 'women's The legal and public relations battles did not stop there. 16 0 obj <> endobj Mr Palyga considered that the requirements of procedural fairness should Despite evidence that the island had been mentioned as a fertility site in 1967, predating the meeting, the Royal Commission found that the secret women's business was a fabrication for the purpose of obtaining protection under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth). views would be included in the report to the Minister on his decision 1988: The Chapmans seek approval to expand project but officially told it will need a . the Adelaide Advertiser quoting the head of the Aboriginal Islander people are not able to be properly considered under existing The Liberals were cut down to only 15 seats at the 2006 election landslide. 5.42 The rules considered in the original Ward case were made in order When a plan to build a $6 million bridge linking Goolwa with Hindmarsh arose in the 1990s, Ngarrindjeri allegations of desecration to the sacred site sparked a multi-year, nationwide debate that became known as the Hindmarsh Island Bridge controversy or the Hindmarsh Island Affair.. Proving SLAPP accusations in court is almost impossible without an express statement by plaintiffs that they were trying to silence their critics. other lawyers or anthropologists regardless of gender. Chapman has previously served as deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2006 to 2009, and became deputy leader again in 2013. Act 1984, s.10(1)(c) requires that the Minister personally consider On 22 November 1990, Premier Bannon wrote a personal letter to the Managing Director of Westpac, Stewart Fowler, guaranteeing government financing of the bridge and in February 1991, Cabinet approved the funding agreement as outlined in the Premier's letter. In April 1990, the State Minister for Environment and Planning wrote to the Chapmans granting them planning permission for the bridge to Hindmarsh Island and the extensions to their marina. CCSA immediately countered the injunction, which was lifted. of the Minister to make declarations in respect of the area, and to remove The question of site registers is considered in more detail at Chapter7 [8] Chapman lost a vote of non-confidence as Deputy Premier in the South Australian Parliament on 18 November 2021 after a parliamentary inquiry found her conflict of interest as Minister for Planning and Local Government and recommended for her to be found guilty of contempt of parliament for misleading the house. Planning Minister Vickie Chapman's decision to reject a $40 million timber port off Kangaroo Island has been slammed as "political" by a crossbench MP after an assessment report deemed the project was justified - but Chapman insists she had no conflict of interest to declare. As part of the transaction, the liquidator of Binalong agreed to assign Binalong's causes of action to Mr and Mrs Chapman who would then pay a percentage of any damages recovered in court to the liquidators. Either the confidentiality Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website may contain images and voices of deceased people. A group of opponents formed the Kumarangk Legal Defence Fund in response to the Chapmans aggressive legal strategy. officers as it was not contemplated that they would be present at the 5.31 In her report Ms Evatt found that restrictions on access to certain tradition was not genuine. Ngarrindjeri women had been fabricated. Each party is entitled to have present at a hearing of 'gender restricted' In February 1995 the Chapmans initiated a legal challenge of the ban in the Federal Court. On this basis, Olney J agreed to exclude female members of the public In March, Shadow Minister for the Environment Ian McLachlan was forced to resign after tabling some of the secret documents in Parliament misrepresenting how he obtained them and falsely claiming they had not been marked "Confidential". However, the Hindmarsh controversy was not over yet. bridge. status of knowledge held. persons being of the gender required by the aforesaid restriction unless opportunity for any person whose interests may be affected. that indigenous persons seeking heritage protection under legislation