Community leaders asked to stand up against racism as it ‘explodes’ in South Coast Marine Park debate

Racist and conspiracy-led rhetoric has “exploded” in the debate around the proposed South Coast Marine Park, with community and political leaders being urged to stand up and say “enough”. The Esperance Tjaltjraak Native Title Aboriginal Corporation says Aboriginal people have been painted as the “enemy of commercial interests” in Esperance over the State Government’s plans for the Wudjari Marine Park. Under the draft plan, the Wudjari people, represented by ETNTAC, will work alongside the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions to jointly manage the park, the third in four connected parks that make up the South Coast Marine Park. ETNTAC chief executive Peter Bednall said the department had done the right thing and made the plans available with a lot of detail but he believed some opponents wanted “more than a say” and to “scuttle the process altogether” by persuading the government to step away from the initiative. He said Aboriginal people had been subjected to “appalling racist, threatening and vicious” social media commentary by people opposed to the plan, with some of the comments “barely related” to the marine park plans. “Aboriginal people are being painted as the enemy of commercial interests in town, based on misunderstandings, misinformation, myths and outright lies,” he said. “Many of these people are unable or unwilling to engage with the details of the management plan and instead are relying on racist messages and conspiracy thinking to try to persuade the government to step away from this initiative. “We are urging leaders to stand up and acknowledge the right that Aboriginal people have to a seat at the decision-making table and in the planning for the future of their country. “Joint management arrangements and Aboriginal Ranger programs have been proven again and again to have positive economic and social benefits for towns like Esperance, and yet that contribution is being erased or belittled.” ETNTAC chair Gail Reynolds-Adamson said Aboriginal people needed community leaders to reject “racism as a weapon” in the debate and support Aboriginal people’s right to a seat at the table. “By being silent in the face of racism and conspiracy, you allow this behaviour to flourish, your silence speaks volumes,” she said. “You can’t call yourself a community leader or a representative and not recognise that Aboriginal people are part of this town, part of the economy, part of this electorate, and that they deserve to be represented. “The social media warriors who make these sorts of comments don’t recognise the worth of Aboriginal people. They don’t want to give us a seat at the table. They don’t believe we have anything to contribute. “But what is worse is the behaviour of people who will say to our face that they know better but then are happy to ride the tails of racism for their political advantage. “For first Australians in our shire this has been just one more bitter and hurtful demonstration that our views are not valued and our perspectives are not heard.” Ms Reynolds-Adamson said the Wudjari people had cared for country, on land and sea around Esperance, for more than a thousand generations. “What we see today is just a moment in tens of thousands of years of Wudjari history,” she said. “We ask all leaders to listen to the representation of Aboriginal people as we seek empowerment and agency in the important role of caring for country, and to lend their support to the Wudjari Marine Park management plan.”