Mining giant challenges aboriginal heritage protection order, claims government failed to properly assess sacred dreaming story

Australian mining company Regis Resources is taking the federal government to court, arguing that officials improperly assessed a sacred Aboriginal Dreaming story when issuing a heritage protection order that has effectively blocked a major goldmine development in central-west New South Wales.

The company has challenged former Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s decision to issue the protection order under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act. The order specifically prevents construction of a planned tailings dam—a critical infrastructure component for the mining operation. Regis Resources told the federal court that this partial protection order would render their entire gold mining project economically unviable.

At the heart of the legal dispute is how the government evaluated and weighed the significance of a Dreaming story connected to the contested site. Dreaming stories are fundamental to Aboriginal culture, containing sacred knowledge about the creation of the landscape and providing spiritual and cultural guidance that has been passed down through generations for tens of thousands of years.

This case highlights the ongoing tension between mining development and Indigenous heritage protection in Australia. While mining companies argue that extensive heritage protections can make projects economically unfeasible, Aboriginal communities and their advocates emphasize that sacred sites represent irreplaceable cultural heritage that, once destroyed, can never be restored. The federal court’s decision could set important precedents for how future heritage assessments are conducted and what standards the government must meet when balancing economic development against cultural preservation.