Adani coal port under threat of stop order amid concern for sacred sites

Indigenous traditional owners from north Queensland have threatened to try to pursue an order that could shut down Adani’s Abbot Point coal terminal, amid concern that sacred sites in the area have not been properly protected. Guardian Australia can reveal Adani has ignored repeated demands by Juru traditional owners to inspect “unauthorised” cultural assessments conducted by former directors of the embattled Kyburra Munda Yalga Aboriginal Corporation. The Indian conglomerate believes it can still rely on those assessments, despite the federal court ruling that Kyburra was not the appropriate “nominated body” to represent the Juru people on a land-use agreement. Cultural heritage assessments are a significant requirement of any major development on Indigenous country in Queensland. Surveys are conducted to identify sacred sites, then recommendations made about how to best preserve them. Assessments for Adani’s Abbot Point port were conducted by former directors of Kyburra, who paid themselves up to $1000 a day cash-in-hand. Kyburra is accused of financial mismanagement. It is in significant debt, under special administration and likely to be dissolved. Federal court documents reveal Kyburra kept secret more than $2m in payments by Adani. Directors of Kyburra then funnelled that money to themselves through a series of “fees” and “loans”. The financial mismanagement of Kyburra was central to a recent federal court ruling that another Indigenous business, Juru Enterprises Limited, was the proper nominated body on a land-use agreement. Traditional owners believe that ruling effectively voids the cultural heritage assessments conducted for Adani by Kyburra. Andrew Morrell told Guardian Australia last week he was “hugely worried” that improper or conflicted advice could have resulted in damage to sacred sites. Lawyers for JEL have emailed Adani three times asking to review the cultural assessments. Adani has not yet responded. Agreements designed to protect Juru sites remain secret from Juru traditional owners. JEL’s position is the agreements “require urgent reassessment and renegotiation”. On 15 June, JEL gave Adani until Friday to “agree to commence re-looking at all unauthorised cultural heritage surveys in an effort to minimise delays in conducting authorised surveys”. “However if your client fails to respond positively ... we will request a stop order pursuant to section 32 of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 to protect and preserve their native title area”. A stop order – which can apply to any activity if there is reasonable grounds to conclude it would harm cultural heritage – would be at the discretion of Queensland deputy premier Jackie Trad, who has responsibility for Indigenous partnerships. Given the concerns of traditional owners relate in part to the Abbot Point state development area, the request for a stop order could put at risk the ongoing operations of Adani’s only income-producing asset in Australia. The company’s $2bn investment in the port is believed to be a key reason why it has not yet walked away from plans for the Carmichael mine, in the face of an ongoing inability to gain finance. Adani has not yet responded to letters sent by JEL solicitor Mark Ascione on 6 June and 15 June. A third letter was sent by Ascione on Wednesday giving Adani seven days to arrange a meeting in Bowen “in order that [traditional owners] will be able to review all of Kyburra’s unauthorised cultural heritage surveys”. Adani said in a statement it would “continue to work collaboratively with all Juru traditional owners” under land-use agreements and cultural heritage management plans. “We fully support and accept the decision made by [the federal court], which only refers to the ancillary agreement of one of the [land-use agreements] and does not affect Kyburra’s role as an Aboriginal party for the cultural heritage management plans.”