Hindmarsh Island Bridge |
|||
---|---|---|---|
Title : | Hindmarsh Island Bridge |
|
|
Creator : | Moore, Patricia, photographer | ||
Source : | Wooden boat festival at Goolwa | ||
Date of creation : | 2005 | ||
Format : | Photograph | ||
Dimensions : | 100 x 150 mm | ||
Contributor : | State Library catalogue | ||
Catalogue record | |||
The State Library of South Australia is keen to find out more about SA Memory items. We encourage you to contact the Library if you have additional information about any of these items. |
Copyright : | Reproduction rights are owned by State Library of South Australia. This image may be printed or saved for research or study. Use for any other purpose requires permission from the State Library of South Australia. To request approval, complete the Permission to publish form. |
Description : |
A number of boats, pictured near the Hindmarsh Island bridge, during the wooden boat festival, March 2005. In 1989 Tom and Wendy Chapman proposed that a bridge be built from Goolwa on the mainland to Hindmarsh Island, near the Murray Mouth, to support their development of Hindmarsh Island Marina. In 1991 the Bannon Labor Government stated that it would build the bridge. However, in 1994 Federal Aboriginal Affairs Minister Robert Tickner placed a 25 year ban on building a bridge to Hindmarsh Island, as concerns had been raised that the site was sacred to the local Ngarrindjeri community - women from the community claimed the island was special to them for reasons that could not be revealed. Some months later, a separate group of indigenous women declared that the so-called 'secret women's business' had been made up. Following this counter statement, there were several protracted court challenges involving opposing groups. In 1995 a Royal Commission was established by the South Australian government to investigate the validity of the claimed beliefs of the Ngarrindjeri women, and it concluded that the claims were false. Federal legislation was passed to prevent further challenges to the project. However, not all were convinced that the Ngarrindjeri claim regarding the presence of sacred sites was not valid, and that building of a bridge was desirable. A High Court challenge was undertaken, but the Federal legislation was upheld. Despite a decade of controversy, the bridge was built and officially opened on 4 March 2001. In August that year the Chapmans commenced Federal Court proceedings seeking damages for defamation. In rejecting these the Federal Court ruled that the women's claims could be genuine Aboriginal tradition, and in 2010 this was accepted and endorsed by the South Australian Government. |
Subjects | |
Related names : | Narrinyeri (Australian people) |
Period : | 1980-2000 |
Place : | Hindmarsh Island (S. Aust.) |
Region : | Fleurieu Peninsula |
Further reading : | Bamford, David. Hindmarsh Island: some lessons, 1995
Bowman, David. 'Huge case, huge silence', Adelaide review, no. 199 (April 2000), p. 7 Nile, Richard, ed. Secret women's business: the Hindmarsh Island Affair, [Brisbane, Qld.]: University of Queensland Press, 1996 SA Organisations File: Kumarangk Coalition [ephemera collection] SA Organisations File: The Ngarrindjeri [ephemera collection] includes Leaflet of Ngarrindjeri heritage issues of Kumarangk (Hindmarsh Island) Simons, Margaret. The meeting of the waters: the Hindmarsh Island affair, Sydney: Hodder Headline : c2003 South Australia. Hindmarsh Island Bridge Royal Commission. Report of the Hindmarsh Island Bridge Royal Commission, Adelaide: The Royal Commission, 1995 Unfinished business: Kumarangk Hindmarsh Island, [Adelaide]: Kumarangk Coalition, [1998] |