Who cares? Indigenous cultural heritage protection in Australia

When faced with the Editors’ provocation to write something ‘forward-leaning, challenging and agenda-setting’ for the discipline we felt that nothing should be more front and centre than the protection of Indigenous Australian cultural heritage.The Juukan Gorge atrocity once again revealed a lack of care (on behalf of non-Indigenous Australians and companies) in relation to the protection of Indigenous Australian cultural heritage. We deliberately use the term ‘atrocity’ in this context (as opposed to ‘disaster’) as the destructive acts to which we refer were ultimately ‘intentional’ and arguably, therefore, ‘performative acts of violence’ (see Cuno and Weiss 2022:1). Juukan Gorge is just one of many in a long line of very public Aboriginal heritage disputes which, despite opposition from Traditional Owners, ultimately resulted in the destruction of significant and sacred cultural places (involving tangible and intangible values): Noonkanbah (Umpampurru), Hindmarsh Island (Kumarangk), Bootu Creek (‘Two Women Sitting Down’) and more.