Shocking news has emerged from the remote Aboriginal community of Parnparjinya in W.A’s mining rich Pilbara region.
Recent vision from Pilbara based Aboriginal media outlet, Ngaarda Media, has shown multiple houses in good condition being torn down. Residents of the community say they have been left in the dark by multiple departments about what was happening to their small community which lies on the outskirts of the resource rich mining town of Newman.
PARNPINJINYA HOMES DEMOLISHEDBuildings are being demolished in Parnpajinya this week and residents are baffled as to why?Over the years, there have been numerous consultations that have gone on around the future of Parnpinjiya reserve and this week, the first house was demolished near Newman.Former leaders, Terry Redman from the Nationals, Former Housing Minister Colin Holt and Brendon Grylls who also held the portfolio for housing have all been involved in these discussions and now with a housing crisis in regional WA, we're seeing houses being demolished rather than renovated. Then there was the West Australian Government's roadmap for reform of remote communities that Indigenous Senator Pat Dodson said had a 'lack of detail at the Yule River meeting in 2016.Newman local Angela Wilmot has been involved with the consultation of Parpinjinya over the years and is disappointed at this outcome."There is speculation of who is affected and who is not, but I will say there is a family that is now living under a tree just close by to the reserve who at one stage were living in a house, when we are dropping people off at night after different things that have been on, it is quite an uncomfortable feeling dropping them off, you know, under a tree.""When you know one of them is a famous Martu Milli artist and when you pop in there and you see him living under his tree with all his paint equipment out around him it leaves you a bit unsettled.""I don't know what happens with the town based reserve, but I do know what courtesy is, and courtesy is coming back, calling the elders together and explaining to them what is going on and what the results are of all the previous meetings, reports and consultations."Ngaarda Media has contacted the Pilbara Development Commission and will continue to investigate this story over the coming days.Martu Elder, Colin Peterson shares his thoughts in the video below.
Gepostet von Ngaarda Media am Mittwoch, 20. Februar 2019
According to residents, homes were boarded up several months ago after requests to repair issues with leaking water and faulty wiring were made. Since that time, many residents have been camped outside their homes waiting for repairs, however after months of waiting and unanswered questions from the department of communities, the residents are now watching on as their homes are completely demolished. So far 2 of the community’s 12 homes have been demolished and there are rumours that up to 4 more homes could be demolished soon.
Residents also believe the land has been earmarked for mining. It appears the strategy of boarding up the houses is a cruel tactic which allows government departments to say the houses were unoccupied and their demolition was warranted.
There are a lot of questions left to answer and we will be following updates from Ngaarda media to see if and how the government responds to this disturbing news.
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