By Lorelei Vashti
A group of Dandenong Ranges parents protested on the main street of Belgrave recently in solidarity with the Djab Wurrung people, after a tree was felled as part of a State Government project to duplicate the Western Highway in the south-west of Victoria.
For over 860 days, the Djab Wurrung Heritage Protection Embassy camped at the site to protect the trees from destruction.
On 26 October, after police cleared protesters from the site, a fiddleback tree was removed from a 12km stretch of land between Buangor and Ararat.
The Djab Wurrung Embassy identified this tree as a culturally significant ‘directions tree’.
Djab Wurrung woman Sissy Austin wrote in The Guardian, “The sounds of those chainsaws will haunt us forever and be added to the already existing intergenerational trauma shadowing our people.”
The tree’s destruction prompted local parents to protest in solidarity outside state Labor MP James Merlino’s office on 28 October.
“Although many people in the hills care about this injustice, because of the 25km travel restriction, none of us could get to the Djab Wurrung Embassy to show our support,” Kallista resident Andrea Innocent said.
“The State Government says they consulted with the appropriate Indigenous people, but the years of legal and physical protection First Nations people have had to give these trees speaks to the fact that the consultation was not representative of all groups”, Belgrave’s Johanna Skelton said.
The destruction of the birthing trees, which have particular cultural significance for Djab Wurrung women and children, has been halted until 19 November due to a Supreme Court injunction.
Ms Skelton said it was critical that community members raise their voices during this time to support the Djab Wurrung Embassy.
“I hope that all Victorians will be compelled to contact their local member, and the Premier Daniel Andrews, to voice their protest of this destruction of Australia’s history,” she said.
“Please send emails, donate to the Djab Wurrung Embassy, and use your voice, use social media, to tell those people in power that destroying Indigenous history and culture is not okay.”
