Aborigines can't claim park - but Woolies can

SYDNEY: Moree, in northern New South Wales, was the scene of a notable civil rights victory in 1965, when - following bitter clashes between locals and student protesters - the town was forced to admit Aboriginal residents to the public swimming baths.

Now the state Government has given approval for a supermarket to be built on a sporting oval in Moree that is also an Aboriginal burial site. Only last week, the Government rejected an indigenous land claim on the same site because it was used for public recreation.

The approval, by the NSW Lands Minister, Tony Kelly, follows five years of wrangling over an application by Woolworths to build a Big W discount store on the Taylor Oval.

The project has split the town, with both black and white residents divided over its merits, and some saying it will generate much needed jobs.

Opponents say the reserve is not only a burial ground - two bodies, clad in bark and possum skin, were reportedly dug up there in 1903, and up to 39 more are believed to be still interred - but an important part of Moree's heritage and sporting history.

The likes of Sir Donald Bradman and Clive Churchill, the rugby league great, played on Taylor Oval, which was created in 1892. In 1982, a promising young Aboriginal footballer, Ronald McIntosh, was shot dead in an adjacent street, in a racist attack.

Moree Plains Shire Council is keen to sell part of the oval to Woolworths for A$2.25 million ($2.78 million). However, the NSW Land Council plans to appeal against the rejection of its claim - a decision also made by Kelly. Until it is resolved, development can't go ahead.

Asked to comment, one indigenous leader said yesterday: "Knocking an Aboriginal land claim back one minute and approving the sale to Woolworths the next - you can probably make your own mind up."

Kelly has defended the twin decisions. A spokesman said land claims were assessed on the basis of the use of the land at the time of application, while "any subsequent decision on the use of the land is unconnected to any previous land claim".

The battle over the swimming pool was won after activists from Sydney University staged demonstrations in the then segregated town, during a "Freedom Ride" to highlight racial discrimination around New South Wales. The group was led by the late Aboriginal leader Charles Perkins.