“Chainsaws tearing through my heart”: A tree that was culturally significant to Indigenous Australians has been cut down to make way for a highway.
The Victorian Government has cut down a 350-year-old tree, culturally significant to Djab Wurrung women, to make way for a highway in the west of the state.
A protest camp that had been at the site for over a year was moved along by police on Monday, and returned to see the tree gone.
“I can feel the chainsaws tearing through my heart, my spirit, my Djap Wurrung body is in pain… Today I laid on the floor and cried. Cried for our mother, Djap Wurrung country.”
Local Gunditjmara woman Sissy Austin.
On Tuesday, at least 25 people were arrested while protesting the highway construction.
Police removed most protestors from the site, but around half a dozen people who locked themselves in cars and barrels remain. Some of those in barrels were cut out and removed by police by lunchtime.
Indigenous groups have long protested the $157 million Western Highway upgrade project. The project is facing federal court action over construction that would see an 800-year-old birthing tree cut down.
The Victorian Government argues the upgrade is necessary for road safety. It says there have been more than 100 crashes on the highway section in question, killing 11 and seriously injuring 50.
The trees that would be cut down tie the Djab Wurrung to dreaming sites in the area, including one near Mount Langi Ghiran and one at the Hopkins river.
The site has particular significance for Djab Wurrung women.
An agreement between Indigenous representatives and the Victorian Government reached last year ensured 13 sacred trees would be saved from destruction.
But activists say this isn’t enough, and have criticised Major Roads Project Victoria for pushing on with construction despite federal court action.
“We’ve listened to Aborginal voices every step of the way… The project’s design has been approved by both relevant traditional owner groups, an independent environment effects statement process, the supreme court, the federal environment minister and the Victorian ombudsman.”
A spokesman for Major Road Projects Victoria on Tuesday.