National Parks director Ricky Archer said he understands the trackwork at Gunlom Falls undertaken in 2019, before his tenure in the role, caused great distress to the Jawoyn traditional owners of the site. Photo: Tripadvisor.
Jawoyn traditional owners and the Federal Government are close to a resolution on the Gunlom Falls dispute after National Parks director Ricky Archer’s decision to plead guilty in the Northern Territory’s Local Court.
Since 2019, the pool and waterfall in Kakadu’s south have been closed due to a court battle between the traditional owners and the Commonwealth.
It is alleged by the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA) that in early 2019, National Parks disregarded the wishes of custodians and without authorisation undertook works that exposed to the public a restricted feature of the Gunlom sacred site in Kakadu National Park.
The AAPA launched a prosecution action against National Parks in 2020, but the matter was deferred when National Parks claimed Crown immunity and argued it could not be prosecuted under the NT Sacred Sites Act. The question of Crown immunity was resolved in the High Court in early May when it was unanimously ruled that the director of National Parks could be held to account under the NT Sacred Sites Act.
Following this, Mr Archer announced his decision to plead guilty in the criminal proceedings before the NT Local Court and express his “deep and sincere apologies to traditional owners for the wrongs of the past”.
“Since commencing in the office of the director of National Parks in November 2023, I have been committed to resolving the Gunlom Falls matter and repairing relationships with traditional owners,” he said. “As director of National Parks and a proud Djungan man, I take the protection of sacred sites very seriously.
“Over the past two years, Parks Australia staff have worked with traditional owners from the Gunlom Aboriginal Land Trust and with the Northern Land Council (NLC) to realign the walking track. Certificates from AAPA were obtained for these works which are now complete.”
AAPA chief executive officer Dr Benedict Scambary welcomed the National Parks director’s decision as “long overdue”.
“The World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park is Aboriginal land, leased back to the Commonwealth and jointly managed by National Parks and Aboriginal custodians,” Dr Scambary said. “It contains many important sacred sites, including Gunlom Falls, which Aboriginal custodians have shared with visitors for many years.
“While the matter is still to be heard in the NT Local Court, [this] announcement from the new director of National Parks is a welcome step forward in resolving this case.
“The Commonwealth should feel ashamed to have spent so many years in the court fighting this issue.”
Mr Archer said his agency’s focus was now on working with traditional owners, AAPA and the NLC on the next steps in relation to the Gunlom site. This included obtaining an Authority Certificate from AAPA for continued use of the site.
“I would like to reassure all of Kakadu’s traditional owners, the Gunlom Aboriginal Land Trust and the Kakadu National Park Board of Management that the lessons learned from this situation will improve how Parks Australia plans and executes projects,” Mr Archer said. “This includes how Parks Australia works with the NLC and AAPA to facilitate consultation around projects, to ensure something like this never happens again.”
Documents obtained by the ABC under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws show that Mr Archer was invited by Jawoyn traditional owners to an on-Country meeting in late June. There at Gunlom Falls he made a formal apology for damage done to the site.
While none of the parties involved have confirmed when the site could be reopened, the FOI documents show Parks Australia is working to settle a lease dispute with traditional owners that may involve compensation.
The Gunlom Falls case is set to return to Darwin Local Court on 29 July.
