First Nations groups have defended a proposal to protect Lake Boort and Kinypanial Creek on Dja Dja Wurrung Country, saying a misinformation campaign has obscured what they describe as a straightforward plan to safeguard the culturally significant area.

Known as the "jewel in the crown" of Dja Dja Wurrung Country, Lake Boort lies about two and a half hours north-west of Melbourne. The sacred site contains one of the highest concentrations of scarred trees in Australia and has long been used for burials, reburials and traditional ceremonies.

Almost half of the Red Gums in Lake Boort — including the stumps — show signs of Aboriginal people removing a triangular-shaped bark to hollow out the tree years earlier to farm possums, something Aboriginal leaders say no other wetland has.

However, the area is also a popular spot for tourism and local recreation, including duck hunting, with the season running between March and June.

Lake Boort falls in the area covered by a 2013 Recognition and Settlement Agreement (RSA) between the State of Victoria and DJAARA. According to the government website, the agreement "includes, inter alia, Crown land in the City of Greater Bendigo, Lake Boort and part of Lake Buloke".

"Recreational activities like hunting and fishing will not be affected," it adds.

Djaran Murray-Jackson is the reserve seat holder for the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation in the First Peoples' Assembly. For thousands of years, he says, Lake Boort would have been a "meeting place for all of our family groups to come together and do ceremony".

However, he notes many scarred trees are damaged each year by visitors, with many of the trees being cut down for firewood. On the east side of Lake Boort alone, there are 32 Cooking Mounds out in the open where Duck Shooters, or people unaware of what they mean, can drive and walk over them.

The Dja Dja Wurrung, Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta, Dhudhuroa, Waywurru, Barapa Barapa, Wergaia, and Wiradjuri man, who also sits on the board of the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation (DJAARA), is calling for stronger protections for the site, including the banning of duck hunting.

He says the Department of Premier and Cabinet has engaged constructively with DJAARA, though he notes that with an election approaching, "it's probably not going to go the way that we want".

A Victorian Government spokesperson told National Indigenous Times they are "currently consulting with traditional owners, the local community and interested parties on ways to preserve the rich Aboriginal cultural heritage and natural values of the Lake Boort area while enabling continued access and recreational use of the lake".

"Victoria's Aboriginal cultural heritage is a vital part of our state's history and identity," the spokesperson said.

"Lake Boort is managed as a state game reserve, where hunting and other recreational activities are permitted in line with strong cultural heritage and environmental protections."

Federal protection

In January, First Peoples' Assembly member Gnerick Gnerick Gary Murray applied on behalf of the Yung Balug Peoples of the Dja Dja Wurrung First Nations for federal protection of Lake Boort under the Commonwealth Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (ATSIHP Act).

In a notice published in the Commonwealth Gazette, Mr Murray — a Dhudhuroa, Yorta Yorta, Barapa Barapa, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wamba Wemba, Wergaia, Wiradjeri and Waywurru man — said the area includes the remains of three Yung Balug ancestors on the eastern shore, an ancient burial on the western shore, along with scarred trees, middens and cooking mounds.

These are "under threat of injury or desecration," his application states, "because the opening of the 2026 Victorian Duck Hunting Season will cause injury and desecration of significant Aboriginal cultural heritage within the specified area, and threats of injury and desecration to the identified classes of objects".

He tells National Indigenous Times their argument is simple. Basically, "we don't want shotguns and duck shooters on that place".

"It'd be like us going to the local cemetery and shooting ducks," Mr Murray argues. "[It's] not on, never has been on. We want that place to be a tranquil place, where everybody can go to it — including non-Aboriginal people — and visit that site and enjoy the environment, the landscape [and] the waterscape."

He says families are effectively locked out during the season. "If we want to go and check on a burial ground and duck shootings are around there, we're not allowed to go within 100 yards..."

"That denies us access to our culture," Mr Murray says. "I don't think non-Aboriginal people realise that."

Opposition to the plan

Proposals for Commonwealth or state protection have drawn criticism from some locals, including former Victorian Nationals leader and local MP Peter Walsh. Unconfirmed reports in the Loddon Herald suggest the state government could consider banning horses, dogs and camping at the lake.

Department officials are understood to have met residents on Monday. Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos has been contacted for comment

Mr Walsh told the Loddon Herald a future Coalition government would overturn any state-issued ban.

"It's called public land for a reason and should be open to all the public," he said, describing claims that agricultural use damages the site as "absurd". He added that duck hunters come to hunt, not destroy trees.

However, photos provided to National Indigenous Times show spent shotgun shells, fire damage on an Aboriginal cooking mound, dragged logs, and what Aboriginal leaders say are burnt ring trees.

Further images show dead ducks, dug up after the season, as well as toilet paper strewn across the site and human waste.

As one Aboriginal leader noted: "Practically no duck shooter brings a toilet...I can't take tourists into the lake [for] months after duck opening for this reason."

Last week, Loddon Shire voted to oppose Mr Murray's proposal, with councillors calling the ban "unjustified" and noting duck hunting was closely regulated. Another councillor said it would be "Un-Australian" to restrict access — a characterisation First Peoples groups reject.

"They're lying," Mr Murray says. "We're not shutting it down on all the non-Aboriginal people and Aboriginal people. We're certainly trying to modify it — so it's safe and it protects and showcases our culture.

"Isn't that culture worth saving?"

Cultural tourism will bring more prosperity to the region

Mr Murray-Jackson says the push for protection is about "stopping the activities that are harmful to our sacred sites and our scarred trees". "It's not about making sure no one can go there; we're not going to cut it off for anyone," he says.

Instead, he argues that protecting the area and establishing a cultural centre could boost tourism, pointing to the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2019 for its 6,600-year-old Gunditjmara aquaculture system.

Visitor numbers have since increased significantly, and he believes Lake Boort could see similar benefits.

"If anything, more people will be coming to the lake," Mr Murray-Jackson says. "Because once we do our cultural tourism, you'll find, instead of people going to Bendigo and turning back around to Melbourne, they'll keep driving to Boort, because there'll be that cultural experience for them to come and learn about the scarred trees and 60,000 years of history.

"I would hope Peter Walsh wouldn't want to stop the growth of the regional economy, which we want to do through cultural tourism."

Both men say opposition to the proposal mirrors past backlash to land rights and heritage protections.

Mr Murray-Jackson sums it up as "just misinformation".

"I don't know what it is, but as soon as someone [mentions] stopping some sort of activity, they think everything's going to stop," he says. "We're definitely not going to do that. We just want to make sure that our sacred sites are protected and that scarred trees aren't getting torn down by chainsaws."