Lee Point Camp in Darwin is a Place of Decolonial Climate Activism

While defending Binybara/Lee Point in Darwin, Mililma May identified the key point that needs to be more centrally understood in activist work: the cultural connection between people and Country.

We Are Explorers acknowledges the traditional Country of the Larrakia People who have occupied and cared for the lands, waters, and their inhabitants for thousands of years. We pay our respects to them as the Traditional Custodians and recognise that sovereignty was never ceded.

The ‘Save Lee Point’ movement is one of the most important anti-colonial, Indigenous-led, climate actions to happen on my grandmother’s Country in Darwin. It was and is an example of turning the impossible into the possible, whilst bringing together a cross-section of our community. It was and remains to be a moment in time where climate activism was intentionally elevated to be anti-colonial; the only way, I believe, that climate action can be effective.

Mililma May and Aunty Lorraine Williams at Binybara/Lee Point | Photo by Rebecca Parker

What is Save Lee Point about?

Save Lee Point is a local community movement against development by Defence Housing Australia (DHA) on the last remaining wildlife corridor in Darwin.

DHA has proposed to build houses, a park, a preschool, and other facilities on a site with cultural, environmental, and historical significance. The land in question was Crown Land and was gifted to DHA in an agreement between DHA and the Australian Government.

For the local community, there’s deep frustration because there was no community consultation done nor have there been reports on the benefits of building housing in that location.

The development is guised as a community housing project, but is in fact for private investors; with 90% of profits going back to DHA. The key ministers with oversight for this project and who have the power to stop the project are: Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Defence Richard Marles, and Deputy Defence Minister Matt Thistlewaite.

The proposed development at Lee Point requires not only the building of houses by destroying old-growth trees and sites of significance, but also the increase of population in an area that has limited to no public infrastructure like buses, roads, and schools. The project is described by local community members as risky and poorly thought out.

Read more: How To Save Our Native Forests

The Establishment of Binybara Save Lee Point Camp

In response to the date when bulldozers would descend on Lee Point in July 2023, the community was galvanised into action. The physical manifestation of the people’s power was the creation of Binybara Save Lee Point Camp.

Upon entering the headquarters of Binybara Save Lee Point Camp, all visitors had to pass a poster handwritten by my Uncle Tibby Quall, Danggalaba Kulumbirigin Larrakia Elder that read:

‘All those persons at the demo (Binybara Camp) are entitled to campaign on our land (Lee Point) to demonstrate against the occupation and to stop further development taking place against our heritage and human rights.’

After signing in and agreeing to the protocols of the camp, visitors were able to hear the stories of the special savannah and find kindred Country defenders.

The physical headquarters of the camp is still located on the site of the proposed defence housing development, on Lee Point Road, Darwin. Banners and signs crafted carefully by locals and visitors of Darwin, from toddlers to the elderly, decorated the fence line with colour and enthusiasm.

At the peak of Binybara Camp HQ, where people such as myself camped for 30+ days, tents and marquees were grouped around mats and camp chairs, looking out onto the old-growth trees.

We sat around, listening to the tweets and trills of birds, like the Australian figbird and Rainbow bee-eater, and the hum of scheming Country defenders.

Who are Country defenders?

Country defenders at Lee Point are a mix of many different people from across the Northern Territory and even Australia. We like to think of ourselves as defenders because it demonstrates our deep collective care and collective commitment to Country.

Over the past decade, Darwin-based allies (mostly non-Indigenous folks) formed ‘Friends of Lee Point’. Their goal? To stop DHA from destroying the savannah and the last remaining wildlife corridor in Darwin for development.

Binybara/Lee Point is home to the Gouldian finch | Photo by Ulrike Kachel via Friends of Lee Point

These determined allies spearheaded the campaign with the endangered Gouldian finch as its mascot, and have been diligently using their resources and privileges to commit themselves to saving Lee Point. Their work has been instrumental in the success of the campaign so far.

Mililma May and an older protestor

The climate and ecological focus of the movement was being understood by the community, but there was a lack of depth and understanding about the Country itself. In particular, there was a gap in knowledge between people and Country.

Uncle Tibby Quall and Aunty Lorraine Williams, representatives of the Batcho family of the Danggalaba clan, were the ones who spoke life into the relationships between us and the land we were fighting for. They spoke about the cultural significance of the site at a protest just days before bulldozers descended on Lee Point. Their presence and knowledge were the critical link in the chain that figuratively and literally ended up pausing the progression of the DHA’s plans.

Batcho family representatives

When a site of either cultural or environmental significance is under threat, especially imminent threat, there are options for Traditional Owners to apply for injunctions to pause the works. Under the federal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984, my family made an emergency application. This process triggered the DHA to call for a 30-day stop work.

That initial pause was then extended to nine months, which will end on the 31st of March 2024.

The stop works allow for the application process to assess the cultural heritage of Lee Point. It also sends a message to investors that this project is risky and that Traditional Owners are ensuring that the appropriate consultation is being done.

Experiencing the Full Force of the Colony

Sitting at camp, there was a sense amongst the allies that this place was sacred. It was expressed by allies when they gratefully captured photos of endangered Gouldian finches, Black-footed tree rats, and Yellow-spotted monitors, and sat in awe admiring the century-old trees. There was a sense that this place needed to be protected, by any means.

Police removing a protester

There was a general naivety amongst the allied Country defenders around what it takes to really defend Country.

People power and defending Country is something that First Nations people are all too familiar with. We learn from an early age that justice doesn’t exist in the colony of so-called Australia, and that all of the colony’s institutions will exert themselves to ensure that you do not win.

We saw this at Lee Point in the sheer number of police that turned up to stop us from stopping the bulldozers. We saw this when the police and security forcefully arrested peaceful Country defenders. We saw this when over a dozen security guards and police were stationed over 24-hour periods to prevent us from jumping the fence to stop trees being destroyed.

Journalists turning up to cover the blockade

The lengths the colony went to police our peaceful protesting was somewhat of a shock to our allies, who had not been confronted with police brutality before.

To be a defender of Country you must understand how policing, legislation, and racism are all used to ensure that a profit is made by any means necessary. We must all be privy to the ways of the colony in ensuring its power and control. Knowing this is knowing anti-colonialism.

The way of knowing my old people have taught me is what academics now call ‘decolonising’. The process where we unlearn the ways of the colony; its violence, its greed, and its lack of humanity, and instead we re-learn our traditional ways.

So what does decolonising climate activism look like?

In terms of grassroots decolonial climate activism, we must prioritise the ideologies that colonialism resents: gentleness, care, togetherness, and rest.

Our dream of climate activism is filled with stories and sharing. It is filled with campfires and a good feed. It allows for mistakes and it values rest. It relies on gentleness and values the time to be staunch. It takes all guidance from the Elders, and asks the young people to think creatively. It welcomes newcomers and adores commitment.

Decolonising climate activism is about unlearning the colonial mindset that says humans are merely destructive to Country. Instead, we learn about returning to the knowledge of Indigenous people that says people must live on Country, be responsible for it, and diligent with managing Country. Indigenous law puts us in a position where we have to be considerate about how we live and walk on Country.

Nyikina lawyer, academic, and filmmaker, Marlikka Perdrisat carefully articulates in her Ted-X Talk;

‘The future will be written in the language of the past.’

That non-Indigenous people can be decolonial climate activists by building relationships with Country;

‘Each of you here today can take it upon yourself to select a species that you will love, study, and protect as a lifelong project…’

She invites allies to take on the responsibility of listening to Country and responding to Country’s needs.

Ms Perdrisat’s generous invitation is the epitome of gentleness, care, and togetherness that challenges the very systems that are allowing the destruction of Country. Her invitation is a practical and tangible way for us to implement decolonial climate activism in our daily lives. It’s the collective wisdom of First Nations peoples like Ms Perdrisat that’ll ensure we manage Country for generations to come.

Aunty Lorraine Williams protecting her country | Photo by Rebecca Parker

We must continue to be clever about how we navigate the violence and harm of the colony. We must centre and uplift the voice and knowledge of Traditional Owners, whose land this always was, and always will be.

In the lead-up to Sunday 31st March 2024, we need everyone to contact the Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek, and call on her to stop the Lee Point development. Email, call, and visit Minister Plibersek and demand she use the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 to protect Lee Point.

And then email, call, and visit Deputy Defence Minister Matt Thistlewaite and demand he stops this profiteering project, suggest he build the houses closer to the barracks, closer to public transport, and closer to services that defence personnel need.

We the people have alternatives and solutions. We must be deeply anti-colonial and avidly defend Country – our lives and our children’s lives really do depend on it.

For up-to-date info on the Save Lee Point campaign and to find out how you can help in the lead up to 31st of March, follow @uprisingofthepeopleltd.

Images supplied by @uprisingofthepeopleltd