A sacred Indigenous birthing tree that was once at the centre of large protests in western Victoria over Aboriginal cultural heritage rights has been vandalised with a pro-highway message and had three drill holes cut into its trunk.
Police are investigating after the tree – sacred to the Djab Wurrung people – was vandalised near Buangor, about 180km west of Melbourne. The Djab Wurrung people have been fighting for four years to prevent the destruction of the birthing trees as part of a major state government road project.
Eastern Maar Aboriginal corporation, responsible for the western Victoria region, has offered a $10,000 reward for information that will lead directly to a prosecution and conviction for the alleged offence.
The corporation’s chief executive, William Briggs, said it was “deeply saddened” by the vandalism.
The vandalism, believed to have taken place last week, included spray painting that read “build the road”. Three drill holes were also discovered in the tree’s trunk, prompting allegations from traditional owners it had been poisoned.
The independent Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe on Tuesday said the attacks had caused great pain for Djab Wurrung elders, matriarchs and women.
“Our maternity trees have sheltered the birth of countless generations of Djab Wurrung babies,” she said.
Thorpe, a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman, visited the site on Saturday.
The trees were due to be destroyed for a project to duplicate the Western Highway that was due to be completed in 2020, but it has been halted after lengthy legal battles.
In 2021, Victoria’s supreme court dismissed a Djab Wurrung-led case to protect the trees after the state government lawyers said they would no longer rely on a cultural heritage report approved by the relevant Indigenous body in 2013.
A spokesperson for Major Road Projects Victoria said it was preparing a new cultural heritage management plan with Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation.
“The preparation of the CHMP is a culturally sensitive matter and the assessment process must run its full course. MRPV are continuing to consult with EMAC which is undertaking broad consultation across its community,” the spokesperson said.
MRPV confirmed the vandalised tree would not be removed to construct the road.
“Changes were made to the project design in early 2019 to avoid a number of trees of significance including the tree that was vandalised,” the spokesperson said.
