Defamation ruling against Green Left article
By Dot Tumney
A ruling on November 26 by the District Court of South Australia awarded
damages of $100,000 and costs of $11,000 to the former developers of the
Kumarangk (Hindmarsh Island) bridge, located in the lower Murray area of
SA.
Justice Lowrie decided that the co-defendants, archaeologist Neale
Draper and Margaret Allan had defamed the developers, Wendy, Tom and
Andrew Chapman, in an
article in Green Left Weekly published on March 12, 1997. The court
ruled that
the co-defendants would be jointly and severally responsible for the
total damages.
The article was an interview with Draper, a former state government
archaeologist and anthropologist, who discussed the government's role in
the handling of the application to build a bridge to Kumarangk.
Application for building the bridge from Goolwa to Kumarangk was first
made in the late '80s. In 1995, federal minister for Aboriginal affairs
Robert Tickner put a 25-year ban on the building of the bridge. Later,
the Howard government enacted a special law called the Hindmarsh Island
Bridge Act 1997, allowing the construction to go ahead. A High Court
appeal by the Ngarrindjeri women against the validity of this law was
unsuccessful.
The Ngarrindjeri women who protested against the building of the bridge
say that Goolwa and Kumarangk are sacred places -- sites for secret
women's business. Others raised concerns about the environmental impact
of the construction and subsequent human activity.
Spokesperson for the Kumarangk Legal Defence Fund Tom Glynn said on
November 26,
“We are disappointed by today's verdict. However, we note that this
was a finding of a white court on issues (partly) of Aboriginal
consultation and heritage but the court did not hear from any
Ngarrindjeri people.
“We hope that the Ngarrindjeri people will be heard in other cases,
as this is only one of several cases which address similar themes. We
don't believe there is a precedent set here and are confident of a
different outcome at later trials.
“There are also wider issues which this verdict brings into
consideration. Defamation cases are complex and expensive. Given the
number of cases against individuals and small community groups over
Hindmarsh Island, there are serious issues of access to justice to be
addressed.”
Green Left is appealing for donations to help pay legal costs
incurred in this case.
Contributions can be sent to Green Left Weekly, PO Box 394,
Broadway
2007.
from Green Left Weekly
http://www.peg.apc.org/~greenleft/
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