By Luke Voogt
An Aboriginal heritage listing that could close an Anakie quarry has sparked calls for a parliamentary investigation into Victoria’s peak indigenous body.
The heritage listing threatened more than 50 jobs, Western Victoria MP Simon Ramsay told parliament last week.
Quarry owner and former Geelong mayor Ken Jarvis welcomed Mr Ramsay’s call for an investigation.
“We’ve been fighting this listing now for almost three years,” Mr Jarvis told the Indy.
“It’s been the worst three years of my life.
“We’ll fight this until the very end. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Mr Jarvis’s company, Aerolite, planned to build a new quarry at the Anakie site in August 2014 but received an objection based on a claim of Aboriginal significance.
Later in 2014 Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) ruled out any cultural significance, with the company beginning construction of the new quarry in 2015.
But Aboriginal Victoria listed the site on Victoria’s indigenous heritage register despite the decision.
Mr Ramsay called on state Aboriginal Affairs Minister Natalie Hutchins to confirm the department acted in good faith.
He told parliament the actions of Aboriginal Victoria made no sense.
Advice from four eminent experts acting for the secretary to the department described the grounds for listing as weak, he said.
One of the experts, University of Queensland’s Doctor Andrew Sneddon, said the purported landmarks on the site failed to reach the criteria for listing, Mr Ramsay said.
“Local elder Trevor Edwards of Geelong has even reportedly signed a statutory declaration that he had not heard of any such story pertaining to the site until three years ago,” he said.
While VCAT approved the new quarry in 2014, the listing could affect the operation of the two existing quarries at the site.
In January VCAT granted a Cultural Heritage Permit, allowing Aerolite Quarries to quarry the site.
But Mr Jarvis said it covered only a certain quantity of material.
“We will run out of materials that we need to remove on that permit and that will be the time that people lose their jobs but we won’t let that happen.”
On 6 March Aboriginal Victoria notified Aerolite that it wanted the site to remain on the register.
The company has until 28 April to respond.
“I’m determined to have this listing lifted,” Mr Jarvis said.
“The way they’ve dealt with the matter is unconscionable.”
Mr Jarvis said the quarry never attracted “the slightest claim of any Aboriginal interest” in the 80 years before he bought it in 1986.
He welcomed an independent review of the site’s heritage status despite experts already describing the heritage claim as weak.
“But why should the Victorian taxpayer have to pay for another independent report?”
The Indy was unable to obtain comment from Ms Hutchins before deadline.
