Boral fights charges on ‘reckless’ quarry dig

A COMPANY charged with excavating Aboriginal relics in Bridgewater has sought to have the charges overturned on a legal technicality in a Hobart court.

The multinational Boral Construction Materials Group faced Hobart Magistrates Court on Monday on charges of “interfering” with 23 stone tools at its Bridgewater quarry.

The company is accused of violating Section 14(1B) of the Aboriginal Heritage Act, which covers “reckless or negligent” behaviour towards Aboriginal relics.

However, defence lawyer Chris Gunson SC argued that the charges should be thrown out because they did not specify whether they were accused of recklessness or negligence.

When asked by Magistrate Chris Webster whether there was a meaningful difference, Mr Gunson argued there was.

“The nub of my submission is that the charge is defective,” Mr Gunson said.

“It’s defective in that it fails to name a mental element – an essential element of the defence.”

The prosecution said it was self-evident that recklessness and negligence were part of the charge, given they were being charged under Section 14(1B) of the Aboriginal Heritage Act.

Magistrate Webster said they were often told by legislature not to reject charges on technicalities, but only if the charges could be shown to be fundamentally defective.

In this particular case, Mr Webster took the view that the charge was not defective, since the context made it clear exactly what the company was accused of.

The case was adjourned to September 23 for mention.

The quarry sits on the boundary of the Jordan River, an area known to Aboriginal people as kutalayna.

Tools allegedly interfered with included a mudstone notched scraper, a banded hornfels scraper, a quartzite cobble flake, a mudstone blade and a silcrete core scraper.