Community groups in Sydney will protest the planned bulldozing of a sacred Indigenous site in Victoria this weekend.
The Djab Wurrung site in Victoria's mid-west is in the path of a planned bypass along the Western Highway, despite being home to culturally significant birthing tree said to be over 800-years-old.
It is said that thousands of Djab Wurrung babies have been born, over multiple generations, within the trees with the placentas of those babies buried in the area.
The Western Highway development along a 12.5km stretch of land could potentially see nearly 1000 trees bulldozed.
For more than a year traditional owners have been camping at the site after creating the Djab Wurrung Embassy but were served an eviction notice this month as protests on the site escalate.
News of the site’s potential destruction spread nationally with supporters in Sydney planning demonstrations to support traditional owners and the trees being saved on Saturday.
Kenji Khozoei from Anticolonial Asian Alliance, who are organising the protest, said they are holding the protest in Sydney on Gadigal land to stand in solidarity with the Djab Wurrung Embassy.
“It is yet another display of government and corporate greed and we refuse to stand by as such bodies continue to destruct this land,” he told The Feed.
The group have said they are being supported by the Djab Wurrung Embassy.
This week the Victorian Government said they are trying to find a consensus with Indigenous Australians.
"We are continuing to work in good faith to try and find a way forward," he told parliament on Wednesday.
The premier stressed the road must be redone to save lives, with 11 deaths on the highway in as many years.
"This road is regarded by the government as critically important for safety," he said.
