The Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation has expressed its "heartbreak and disappointment" following the approval of a large-scale wind farm in north-west Tasmania.
Approved on Friday after years of delays — including multiple court appeals — the 100-turbine up-to-900-megawatt facility is set to be built on Robbins Island, north-west of the rural town of Smithton.
Opponents to the ACEN Australia development have cited the Island's environmental value, which is located on the known migratory path of the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot, as well as being home to a facial tumour disease-free population of Tasmanian devils.
In addition to "deep concern for the major threats to vulnerable flora and fauna," the Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation (CHAC) has highlighted cultural concerns it says it has raised with the Federal Government's environment department "for years".
"Robbins Island is not a place defined only by scattered physical heritage sites—it is an entire living cultural landscape of immense significance to Aboriginal people," a CHAC statement read.
"We have consistently stated that current heritage legislation does not, and cannot, protect sites of this magnitude.
"Despite countless representations over many years, from our community and other communities across Tasmania, our voices have again been dismissed.
"This decision sends a clear and painful message: our heritage and our rights are not seen as worth protecting."
Despite having Aboriginal cultural heritage significance, including being the birthplace and spiritual home of Aboriginal resistance fighter, Tunnerminnerwait, the Island does not have World Heritage or National Heritage listing.
CHAC says Robbins Island was home to the parper-loiheener people and served as a significant gathering place for up to a dozen tribes of the state's north-west.
According to CHAC, a response "only after the announcement had already been made" from Federal Minister for Environment and Water, Murray Watt, confirmed Aboriginal heritage was not considered as part of the project's approval.
"This cold, bureaucratic reasoning lays bare the reality: existing government mechanisms at every level—local, state, and federal—fail to safeguard Aboriginal heritage and uphold our rights to protect it," CHAC said.
"The approval of this development is more than a policy failure. It is a stark reminder of the yawning gap that remains between government rhetoric about 'Closing the Gap' and the lived reality of Aboriginal communities."
According to the Federal Government construction on the project is expected to begin in 2031, however ACEN Australia is reportedly hoping to commence by late 2027 or early 2028.
CHAC has labelled the outcome "heartbreaking" for Aboriginal communities across Tasmania.
"It is predictable, yes—but no less devastating," they said.
"Once again, the interests of money and industry have been prioritised over cultural preservation and our voices are silenced once again."
The Greens have condemned the project's approval, labelling Robbins Island "the worst possible place anyone could build a wind farm" due to its cultural and environmental value.
Tasmanian Greens Environment Spokesperson, Vica Bayley, said although renewable energy generation is a "big part" of climate change solutions, "it can't come at the expense of the survival of endangered wildlife and irreplaceable Aboriginal cultural heritage".
"Despite its Aboriginal significance, this project was assessed against Aboriginal Heritage laws that over four years ago, the Tasmanian Government accepted are flawed and promised to fix," Mr Bayley said.
"In the Parliament, we won't rest until we have laws which properly protect the Tasmanian environment and Palawa heritage values."
In acknowledging the decision would be divisive, Minister Watt said the project's approval "takes into account a wide range of expert scientific evidence and follows a rigorous assessment process".
"The decision includes strict conditions from both the Tasmanian and Australian governments to ensure this project will be constructed and operated in a way that safeguards nationally protected species," Mr Watt said, The Australian reports.
"This includes the orange-bellied parrot, Tasmanian devil, Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle and protected migratory shorebirds."
CHAC says Aboriginal rights have been "deliberately excluded from consideration" throughout the project's approvals process.
"This decision widens the gap. It demonstrates, yet again, the unwillingness of governments to listen, to learn, or to understand Aboriginal culture," CHAC said.
"And it leaves us to grieve for the places that should have been protected for generations to come."
Tasmanian Minister for Energy and Renewables, Nick Duigan, said proponents and the community have been looking forward to certainty on this project "for a long time".
"It will create hundreds of jobs for our regions and provide clean, affordable energy for Tasmania and support the nation to reduce our global emissions," Minister Duigan said.
Independent member for Braddon, Craig Garland, says the project is a threat to Aboriginal heritage and it had "no social licence from the Aboriginal community," while Bob Brown Foundation patron, Christine Milne, labelled the project "neither ecologically sound nor economically viable".
