Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to briefly speak on the Defence Housing Australia Amendment Bill 2025. While there is obvious contention about this particular Australian Defence Force housing issue, as outlined by my colleague Senator Shoebridge, it's not the only controversial project that this particular government department has been enacting over the last number of years.

We know—I have spoken about this in this place before—about the shocking destruction of ancient woodlands at Lee Point in the Northern Territory. In April last year, there was community outcry as Defence Housing Australia resumed its clearing of Lee Point for housing of its defence personnel and for private rentals in Darwin. I want to point to the fact that this particular part of the world is so ancient, so special and so unique. Some of the trees in this particular area that were bulldozed by Defence Housing Australia were more than 400 years old. These are ancient trees. It is an ancient woodland, and it is home to some of Australia's most endangered species. In fact, not only is it home to some of Australia's most endangered species; it plays a role in the migration of endangered birds, in particular those from other parts of the world. It is a haven for wildlife and endangered species.

The federal government gave approval to DHA to bulldoze this ancient woodland, but they didn't do their due diligence very well. The department was forced to pause the work in 2022 to assess the project's impact on the Gouldian finch, a very endangered bird that lives in this area—a beautiful little bird. It's gorgeous. If you haven't seen it, look it up online. It is a spectacular animal that lives in this area, has lived in this area and has had this woodland as its home for hundreds and hundreds of years, perhaps thousands. There are trees in this area that have played home to the Gouldian finch for over 400 years—because that is how old this woodland is. The department of Defence Housing Australia had to pause its work because of the impact on this particular bird and then had to pause it again, in 2023, following an application for cultural heritage from the Larrakia traditional owners. Not only was the department bulldozing ancient woodland; it was doing so without any approval or consent from the local Indigenous owners. At the time, Minister Plibersek, who was the environment minister, rejected the application by the traditional owners for cultural heritage. That was very disappointing. We now know that the department is back in court because of the discovery and removal of ancient artefacts from the site.

I use this opportunity to say this to the government. It has been found over and over that this particular project has not just been managed badly; it was approved illegally. The bulldozers have been in there illegally. The woodlands are being destroyed. The animals are being killed, and cultural heritage is being ignored. You've lost one court case in relation to this particular project; you're currently in court again. This bulldozing, this project, must be stopped in its tracks. There should be no bulldozing going on while this latest court case is on foot. That's the first thing. It should not be happening. At the very least, take the keys out of the bulldozers, put down your chainsaws and stop. Stop destroying this ancient woodland and the homes of these beautiful animals.

I really do urge the ministers responsible to withdraw the approval for this project in the first place. It was based on rubbish; it was continued on misinformation. I asked the minister several times, both here in the chamber and in Senate estimates, about the unauthorised and illegal application relating to this project. I was told that the information wasn't correct, only to have the court come in and say to all of those who were talking about this project being illegal that this application wasn't done in the right way and that the bulldozers had been started before the process was complete. The court upheld all of that. I haven't had an apology from the minister, by the way. But it's not about who is right here; it's about doing what is right and doing the right thing. The right thing is shelving this project to ensure that it does not continue on what is a pristine, ancient and sacred area. It is sacred to the traditional owners, sacred to the animals and important for that local ecosystem.

Only a number of weeks ago, new footage emerged of DHA bulldozers continuing their destruction despite the very serious environmental and legal questions over this project. In the wake of the federal election and everybody being a bit busy, Defence Housing Australia has sent the bulldozers back in, hoping that no-one would notice. It is not good enough, and it does beg a broader question. If the federal government can't even abide by its own environmental laws, how on earth do they expect anybody else to? There was a clear breech of the law in this case. Do you know what the fine was? For the first breech, it was $18,000. That's just doing business, isn't it? It's just outrageous. It is absolutely outrageous.

The local community in Darwin is deeply distressed by what has happened here—distressed that the community's concerns have been ignored, that this pristine area just 20 minutes drive out of Darwin is being destroyed and that the local Indigenous community has been dismissed. It's time that the federal government and the responsible ministers see this dog of a project for what it is and cancel it. They've already destroyed a significant part of that woodland, and they need to stop before they destroy all of it.