Police are investigating a complaint made by a traditional owner who alleges staff from Bravus, formerly Adani, attempted to block him and his family from accessing a sacred site near the Carmichael mine.
Wangan and Jagalingou man Adrian Burragubba alleged on 27 August he and his family were attempting to go to the Doongmabulla Springs for cultural reasons when they were overtaken by a Bravus car that then obstructed a gate at an entrance to pastoral land.
Video of the encounter shows staff with Bravus telling Burragubba and his family that they could not pass through the gate because the pastoral leaseholder did not want them on his land. Burragubba, a vocal opponent of the Carmichael mine, told the Bravus staff he was there for cultural reasons and to visit the Doongmabulla Springs, which are located on a nature refuge on the pastoral lease.
Doongmabulla Springs is an environmentally important site that is sacred to the Wangan and Jagalingou people. Burragubba said he was there for a ceremony to introduce his newborn grandchild to the waters.
“My daughter and their children, they wanted to go out to the Doongmabulla Springs to perform a women’s cultural ceremony – these are newborn kids,” he said. “I was behind them, I was taking my time, I was going a bit slower … and I saw this mining car drive past us.
“They drove past me across the bush and they blocked the gate, the entrance, with their car and my daughters and that were talking to them. I went up and asked them, ‘What’s going on? Why are they doing this?’ and they just said, ‘This is private property’ and we’re not allowed on there.”
After an alleged standoff that lasted roughly 20 minutes, the Bravus staff moved the car and the traditional owners were allowed through.
Burragubba said he has a longstanding relationship with the property owner granting access to the site. He described Bravus’ alleged actions as an “attempt to discourage us from practising our culture on our own land [and] is deeply offensive”.
“We feel intimidated by this process, because we didn’t ask for that to happen and these people weren’t invited to interact with us,” Burragubba said. “If someone had a problem they should have given notice to my son, who lives on the mining lease, and they should have given notice to the property manager. The property manager didn’t know anything about it.”
Burragubba complained to police about the alleged obstruction and intimidation.
Queensland police confirmed in a statement that they are investigating the complaint.
“On Tuesday, September 5, police received a complaint regarding an incident alleged to have occurred near Doongmabulla Springs around 3pm on Sunday, August 27,” a police spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for Bravus said the video supplied by the activists was “heavily edited” and showed its mine security staff speaking with Burragubba “at the request of the pastoralist” and asking them “not to enter the cattle property without consent”.
The spokesperson suggested the family were trying to enter the property without following an established process that included biosecurity controls to protect livestock and the land.
“Mr Burragubba’s group chose to ignore the pastoralist’s reasonable request and entered the property anyway along with a film crew of non-traditional owners to shoot public relations material for their anti-coal campaigns at the nearby springs,” the spokesperson said.
“Our staff did not attempt to stop them, as can be seen in other footage provided to the Guardian, and Queensland police have not contacted us about the conversation our workers had with Mr Burragubba.”
The spokesperson also disputed that Burragubba had rights to access pastoral properties “as he and his family do not hold native title”.
A spokesperson for Queensland police urged anyone with information about the incident to contact Policelink on 131 444 or Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.
