Regis Resources: Jacinta Nampijinpa Price fumes over fake Indigenous Australians after NSW gold mine shafted

Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has blasted the Environmental Defenders Office and raised concerns about people masquerading as Aboriginal in light of the Regis Resources gold mine rejection.

Senator Price launched the attack as the Coalition pushes to overturn Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s decision to torpedo the $1 billion McPhillamys development.

The taxpayer-funded EDO backed a protracted legal challenge to Regis’ development in regional New South Wales by a small number of Wiradjuri people, spearheaded by Wiradjuri Elder Nyree Reynolds.

Ms Plibersek late last week ruled in favour of a Section 10 application under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 lodged by Ms Reynolds — effectively killing off McPhillamys — on the grounds a proposed tailings dam would damage “songlines”.

The decision was made despite the main Aboriginal corporation in the region — the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council — holding a “neutral” stance on the development.

Ms Reynolds has not responded to The Nightly’s request for comment.

Senator Price says it was “utterly disgraceful” the Federal Government continued to fund the EDO — which is essentially a legal service for environmental activists — and called into question the organisation’s practices.

“We need to know more detail about the individuals that EDO have been consulting with regard to this case because concerns have been brought up about the individuals that the EDO have used for this particular case,” Ms Price said.

“We know, as Indigenous Australians, that there are a lot of people who are claiming to be Indigenous, who are, in fact, not Indigenous, and this is a growing concern amongst Indigenous Australians.

“It certainly is (a concern) amongst the Wiradjuri people . . . I have many conversations with those who are legitimate Wiradjuri people as well.”

The Coalition has already promised to strip the EDO of its roughly $2 million per year in taxpayer funding if it wins the next Federal Election.

The firm’s practices were exposed during the Barossa gas pipeline saga, with a federal court judge finding one of its lawyers had confected evidence and coached Tiwi Islander witnesses during its failed bid to stop Santos’ mega project.

EDO chief David Morris rejected Senator Price’s characterisation of the organisation’s work.

“EDO plays a fundamental role in providing access to justice to a vast range of clients across Australia who would otherwise not be able to access legal services,” Mr Morris said.

Ms Price accused Ms Plibersek of favouring the opinions of a fringe environmental activist like the EDO instead of Aboriginal groups.

“Minister Tanya Plibersek is disgraceful in terms of decisions that she’s making at the whim of the activist EDO, as opposed to listening to the authority on the ground to ensure that this project goes ahead,” she said.

She also took aim at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who just this month pivoted his Indigenous affairs agenda to focus on economic empowerment.

“They would prefer to lock up land to keep Indigenous Australians behind the eight ball, dependent on things like welfare, dependent on Government handouts, as opposed to ensuring there’s prosperity and there’s economic independence.,” she said.

Roy Ah-See — a prominent Wiradjuri leader — said the Environment Minister was wrong to prefer the views of McPhillamys opponents over the written advice of the ­OLALC.

Regis had received all substantive state and federal approvals, including Aboriginal cultural heritage approvals, prior to Ms Plibersek’s ruling.

Association of Mining and Exploration Companies chief executive Warren Pearce said it was “alarming” to hear reports that section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act is being “weaponised” by environmental activists to stall and stop projects like McPhillamys.

The Coalition will on Wednesday move a motion in Federal Parliament to overturn Ms Plibersek’s decision, which it argues is part of an orchestrated attempt to shut down mining by “stealth”.

The motion has next to no prospects of success but it will keep the issue in the spotlight.

Ms Plibersek was out defending the decision again on Tuesday, claiming the bombshell ruling was necessary to prevent a repeat of Rio Tinto’s Juukan Gorge disaster.

“If we sincerely believe that we can’t allow the destruction of cultural heritage in that way then occasionally decisions like this have to be taken,” Ms Plibersek told ABC radio.

The minister continues to insist the gold mine project can still go ahead if the dam is built elsewhere.

Regis had investigated other sites for the dam but none were considered feasible — a fact that was communicated to Ms Plibersek.

“If they are right in saying there’s around $7 billion worth of gold to be extracted from this mine, I think it’s in their interests to have a look at those alternative sites that they’ve previously investigated,” she said.