Arabic version: لاراكيا تسعى لإدراج طارئ للي بوينت في قائمة التراث

According to ABC News, Larrakia custodians Lorraine Williams and Tibby Quall have sought an emergency Commonwealth heritage listing for Darwin’s Lee Point in an attempt to stop a federal government housing project.

The application to the Australian Heritage Council and the federal environment minister argues that the proposed development area should be protected as the “Binybara cultural heritage landscape” for its Indigenous, biodiversity and historical values. The project has approval for 600 private homes and 200 houses for defence personnel.

Williams said protection was needed for the entire area because of its cultural significance. She said the estate would interfere with the registered Binybara Larrakia sacred site, a rock reef off Lee Point beach, and a sacred women’s site within the development area.

The custodians’ lawyer, Ally McAlpine of Environmental Justice Australia, said the nomination requests a provisional emergency listing to halt further work while the full application is considered. Defence Housing Australia has built five houses and revised its plans after concerns about biodiversity and sacred sites. During clearing of one block of the planned 132-hectare development, it uncovered Indigenous cultural artefacts including a grinding stone.

The Heritage Council will assess the nomination before it is referred to the federal environment minister. Scientists from Charles Darwin University have described Lee Point’s tropical eucalyptus woodland as one of few remaining Darwin coastal habitats important to endangered species, including the black-footed tree rat and Gouldian finch.