$250k fine for Wave Hill site damage

The leaseholders of the historic Wave Hill Station in the Northern Territory have been fined $250,000 for damaging relics at the heritage-listed site.

The Wave Hill Station is one of Australia’s most significant landmarks for Aboriginal land rights.

The station was the site of a 1966 walk-off by Gurindji stockmen protesting the working conditions of  Aboriginal workers at the time.

As a result prime minister Gough Whitlam returned a small part of the land to Gurindji leader Vicent Lingiari in 1975.

Wave Hill Holdings bought the three-million acre station in 2021 snd began extensive upgrades on the station.

The company pleaded guilty for damaging two of the last remaining features of the original site in Darwin on Friday. The damage included, curtting down a windmill and removing 800 metres of fencing that marked that historic walk-off route.

Wave Hill is located about 600 kilometres south of Darwin.