Another shining example of what happens when money talks and First Nations culture walks. Andrew Forrest is once again trying to bend the sacred Ashburton River in the Pilbara to his private gain, seeking to build a cluster of weirs and irrigation works along a stretch of water deemed spiritual country by the Buurabalayji Thalanyji Aboriginal Corporation.
This isn’t about “regional sustainability” or “closing the water-gap” as the gloss might suggest: the tribunal previously found that the primary beneficiary of the project would be Forrest’s own pastoral-and-mining interests, not the wider community. Meanwhile the Thalanyji people are forced into court-rooms fighting for respect of their heritage, forced to watch their river, their serpent spirit Warnamankura’s home, become fodder for corporate ambition.
This is a vivid illustration of how the wealthy and well-connected continue to appropriate land and culture for private enrichment—while Indigenous custodians bear the cost. If we are truly serious about justice, we should be calling out not just miners drilling into deserts but billionaires bending rivers and courts to suit their balance-sheet.

#australia #indigenousrights #environment #corporatepower #auspol #olygarchy #greed #Twiggy #pissofftwiggy #fuckofftwiggy
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-04/andrew-forrest-traditional-owners-in-sat-ashburton-river-plan/105966594