{"id":697971,"date":"2026-05-27T13:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/697971\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T13:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:58:08","slug":"community-shocked-after-aboriginal-rock-shelter-bulldozed-for-nsw-power-lines-indigenous-australians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/697971\/","title":{"rendered":"Community shocked after Aboriginal rock shelter bulldozed for NSW power lines | Indigenous Australians"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indigenous community members have described their shock and anger after an Aboriginal rock shelter was \u201cdamaged beyond recovery\u201d by contractors building transmission lines for a New South Wales<\/a> renewable energy zone.<\/p>\n

The heritage site was destroyed by bulldozers in March during the construction of access tracks for the Central-West Orana renewable energy zone, a transmission line project located about 300km north-west of Sydney.<\/p>\n

The network company Acerez, engaged by the state government to design, build and operate the infrastructure project, discovered the damage in May while undertaking due diligence checks.<\/p>\n

A company spokesperson said processes to protect the shelter \u201cwere not fully implemented\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are deeply sorry and apologise without reservation to the traditional owners and to the local community,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

Public records for the site described it as a 4×2 metre rock shelter that could have provided \u201cprotection from rain, slope wash and westerly winds\u201d, and potentially contained archaeological deposits.<\/p>\n

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Thomas Dahlstrom, a Wiradjuri, Tubba-Gah and Gamilaraay man, said he had experienced a \u201crollercoaster of emotions\u201d on learning the shelter had been destroyed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was shocked. I was angry,\u201d he said, and now coming to the realisation that \u201cit\u2019s gone and it\u2019s not coming back\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said a statement of regret was not enough for people to learn a lesson, and hoped that harsh penalties would be considered and applied.<\/p>\n

Penny Sharpe, the state\u2019s minister for climate change, energy, heritage and the environment, said she was \u201cfurious\u201d about the damage. \u201cIt should never have happened and is completely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Investigations by the company and the state government were under way into how and why the shelter was destroyed, despite the shelter being identified in the project\u2019s approval conditions and in the contractor\u2019s heritage management plan.<\/p>\n

Project documents said \u201cmicro-siting\u201d to avoid or minimise impact to the site would be investigated prior to construction, in consultation with an Aboriginal heritage specialist.<\/p>\n

EnergyCo, the NSW government corporation responsible for delivering the renewable energy zone, said Acerez had failed to conduct its works in line with the agreed management plans and heritage protection measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese safeguards are clearly defined and must be strictly adhered to at all times. As a result, EnergyCo has alerted Acerez of its failure to comply with its contractual obligations,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

The federal independent MP Andrew Gee said he was \u201cappalled\u201d and called for the chief executive of Acerez to resign.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is irreplaceable Wiradjuri cultural heritage. And it\u2019s irreplaceable national cultural heritage,\u201d he said, \u201cand it is now gone for ever\u201d. \u201cIt is absolutely disgraceful and unforgivable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this attitude within Acerez and EnergyCo that because it\u2019s the NSW government doing this, they can just act with impunity. We want accountability. There needs to be an independent investigation into all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grace Toomey, a councillor for the NSW Aboriginal Land Council central region, told the National Indigenous Times<\/a> the damage highlighted the need for stronger Aboriginal heritage laws and penalties for harm.<\/p>\n

Dahlstrom, who worked on cultural heritage assessments for the renewable energy zone as part of the environmental approvals, would like the company to re-commit to proper engagement with Aboriginal communities and traditional owners.<\/p>\n

He has also applied to the federal government for emergency and ongoing protection for other heritage sites within the construction footprint, such as shelters and grinding grooves. \u201cThe trust is broken,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Indigenous community members have described their shock and anger after an Aboriginal rock shelter was \u201cdamaged beyond recovery\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":697972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-697971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=697971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/697972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=697971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=697971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}