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DESTRUCTION OF SACRED LANDS

My name is Jirragagn Kakaquo and I am Monaro-Ngarigo through my Father, through my Grandfather. Part of Ngarigo Country is the eastern half of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, Australia. It is part of Kosciuszko National Park and I am a Traditional Owner of this Land. This Sacred Land has been handed down through hundreds of generations for this generation NOW to take care of.

We are spiritually connected to this Land through our religion just like all other races of people who identify themselves as the 'International Community'. We are the First Nations Sovereign People to this Country and still we are being excluded from Recognition and Acknowledgement

In mid 2004 the New South Wales Government changed legislation that made the Resorts, who operate within Kosciuszko National Park, no longer answerable to the National Parks Association and the relevant Acts.

Perisher Blue (the largest Resort) has lodged a Development Application for a resort development without CONSENT from, or consultation with, the Traditional Owners.

Perisher Blues 5-hectare proposal will see an 846 bed resort and 7,300 square metres of retail and commercial space pushed into the heart of Kosciuszko National Park. The development will involve: the construction of 240 apartments in six buildings 3 to 5 stories high and an "Indoor Recreation Centre"; clearing of internal roads in the traditionally snow bound valley to allow four wheel drive access to future development up the mountain; and car parking galore along the Kosciuszko Road.

Amongst its many claims, PB says that the development: is consistent with ESD principles and is not going to have any adverse impacts on threatened species. PB purports that the development is going to be "beneficial" to alpine bog communities, the habitat of the endangered Southern Corroborree Frog (despite destroying more bogs to accommodate cars). Further, PB claims: that it is going to have enough water and existing STP capacity to accommodate the urban sprawl; and global warming is going to be managed with the use of "snow guns". All this on an area with "deep subsurface potential" for aboriginal archaeological sites. Never mind, it seems that "past development" is the real problem and PB is going to plant a few trees to compensate. The NPWS, who manage the Park, has been allocated 57 square metres on the site. This compares with the 129 square metres for "Real Estate Marketing Management".

The DA is the first stage of a Kosciuszko National Park development regime that will stretch well beyond Perisher Valley, as the NSW government gears up to allow such development across the alpine region via its "Alpine Resorts Plan" - a massive private development land grab that will see development in areas such as Charlotte Pass, Smiggins Holes, Guthega, Mount Selwyn and Sawpit Creek.

An Independent Scientific Committee on Kosciuszko National Park stated:

One of the few large protected areas remaining in temperate Australia where ecological processes can still occur without significant human intervention

Includes alpine areas that are of international significance

Protects 204 species of alpine flowering plants, including at least 21 species that are endemic and 33 that are rare

Includes subalpine ecosystems that provide habitat for a number of rare animal species (e.g. mountain pygmy-possum in Podocarpus heath and corroboree frog in sphagnum bogs)

Has probably the most outstanding development of subalpine treeless flats and valleys in the world

Includes populations of thirteen vertebrates that are listed as threatened or near threatened by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), including the endangered mountain pygmy-possum

Has nine wilderness areas recognised under NSW wilderness legislation, which constitute 346,257 hectares (50.15\%) of the park; and which are significant at national and international levels as part of the Australian Alps wilderness.

Kosciuszko National Park is also internationally recognised as:

A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation)

A world centre of biodiversity (World Conservation Monitoring Centre)

Blue Lake is listed under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance

Fulfils criteria for World Heritage listing

THE SOVEREIGN TRADITIONAL OWNERS NEED YOUR SUPPORT TO FIGHT PERISHER BLUE'S PLANS OF DESTRUCTION IN KOZCUISKO NATIONAL PARK.