Indigenous Group’s Land Claim on Mount Panorama Fails

An Indigenous group that previously succeeded in blocking development of a gold mine has failed in a bid to declare Bathurst’s McPhillamy Park a sacred site.

On Sept. 25, 2025, Bathurst Regional Council announced that the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation had placed an emergency application under section 9 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection (ATSIHP) Act in order to seek protection for the area on Mount Panorama at McPhillamy Park.

The New South Wales (NSW) mountain also host the famous Bathurst 1000 race.

The Aboriginal group argued that the area held special significance because in 2022 the ashes of a deceased elder were dispersed in that location.

Bathurst Council ultimately responded with relief that the application had not gone ahead.

“Council submitted a response to the application in the third week of August, upon seeking an extension from the federal government department to appropriately provide an answer to the claim,” Bathurst Regional Council General Manager David Sherley said in a statement.

“Senator (Murray) Watt, Minister for the Environment and Water, noted that the specified area is not a significant Aboriginal area to satisfy the purposes of Section 9 of the ATSIHP Act. This is a pleasing result and supports council’s position in regard to Mount Panorama/Wahluu.”

Opponents of the application say it could have threatened the Bathurst 1000 event by hindering access to patrons.

Roy Ah-See, former chair of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council and the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council, said any application should have been done through the correct channels.

He noted the Wiradyuri group did not have jurisdiction to submit the application, and only Bathurst’s Local Aboriginal Land Council had such authority.

“When are these people going to understand that if you want to put a claim to a piece of land, go through the Commonwealth Native Title Act and legislation and put a claim on it. Be legitimate,” he told 2GB radio.

Ah-See expressed concern around the spreading of ashes on the mountain prior to the claim being lodged.

“To utilise and use it in this way is disrespectful to the people who have gone before us,” he said. “You can’t do this.”

Bathurst Aboriginal Land Council CEO Toni-Lee Scott said had the application been accepted it would set a “dangerous precedent.”

The Epoch Times contacted the Bathurst Local Aboriginal Land Council and Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation for comment.

In 2024, a group of Wiradjuri elders lodged an objection to a proposed gold mine near Blayney in NSW, saying the area had massive cultural significance.

Protections applied to part of a waterway, but developer Regis Resources says the move would render the venture unviable.