“ P rotecting cultural heritage and development are not mutually exclusive; we can have both, but projects have to be well-designed.” Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek (2024). The recent decision by the Federal Environment Minister to shut down a tailings dam for a gold mine development, to protect Indigenous cultural heritage, has ignited controversy and conflict. The controversy is not only over the decision’s impact on the viability of the Regis Resources’ Gold Mine Project at Orange, Central-Western NSW. It has also highlighted the complexity of the problem when cultural heritage protection (with its focus on Traditional knowledge) and development (with its focus on Western science) collide over future land use. There is now community concern that history may repeat in Australia for development projects proposed on Indigenous owned and controlled lands. However, there would be little dispute that the above statement by the Federal Environment
Environmental problems such as climate change, Land Use Change and Forestry, biodiversity, the Great Barrier Reef, Indigenous land interests, water resources, chemical hazards, public health, are global problems for sustainability. Finding sustainable solutions for these conflicts should not be seen as the exclusive domain of law or as the sole province of science. Resolving environmental conflicts requires meaningful integration between law and science and effective public participation.