Funding needed
in brewery dispute
By Leon Harrison
PERTH — Robert Bropho, Aboriginal activist and leader of the Swan Valley Fringedwellers, has asked the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission to fund an appeal to the High Court against the Supreme Court decision allowing the WA government to redevelop the old Swan Brewery.
The appeal will cost $25,000.
Bropho has said that Aboriginal people overwhelmingly voted to demolish the building.
"It's not just going to the court, it's trying to save and protect our religion", he said.
Raj Choudree, principal legal officer for the Aboriginal Legal Service, said that ATSIC should establish separate funding to help Aboriginal people fight for land rights and heritage issues.
Choudree said the Bropho appeal had wide support in the black community and was a test case for that reason.
"My belief is that ATSIC is obliged to provide a separate budget for land rights and Aboriginal heritage issues because of their complex legal nature that often requires definition by the High Court." n