ABC Central West

Topic: Indigenous Culture

Tuesday, June 23, 2026, 2:38 pm

A rock shelter was destroyed during work on a renewable energy project in New South Wales.

In short:

A renewable energy company admits it made mistakes that led to the destruction of an Aboriginal rock shelter.

The incident happened during tree clearing for the Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone.

What's next?

The company says it has a lot of work to do to regain trust and will deliver the project in a respectful way.

A renewable energy company says its mistakes led to the destruction of an Aboriginal heritage site in western New South Wales.

An investigation found problems with the site design and construction rules.

The site was known about in the project's planning approval.

In March, a contractor destroyed the rock shelter while clearing land for power lines.

The rock shelter near the Cope State Forest was destroyed by workers.

This happened even though they knew about the site and its importance.

Wiradjuri, Tubba-Gah, and Gamilaraay man Thomas Dahlstrom talked to the company about the cultural sites.

The incident occurred while workers were making an access track on private property.

The company apologized and is working on a way forward.

Thomas Dahlstrom did fieldwork for the Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone.

Stronger protections for indigenous sites

The company has put in stronger controls to protect Aboriginal heritage items.

The company regrets what happened and is taking steps to prevent it from happening again.

The CEO and other executives met with Aboriginal representatives to strengthen oversight.

New measures include site checks and protection buffers for Aboriginal heritage sites.

A Registered Aboriginal Party will inspect the site with the construction team.

The company sent its investigation findings to the state government.

The Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone covers 20,000 square kilometers.

Work on the access track stopped when the destruction was found, but it has since restarted.

The NSW Environment Minister was furious about the incident.

The same company was involved in the displacement of native bird hatchlings.

The federal environment department found no evidence of non-compliance.

Tuesday, June 23, 2026, 2:38 pm

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