Protesters march at Hearson Cove to protest development

A group of Indigenous people and protesters from Perth and the South West have marched against the Scarborough development. About 60 people, including 27 participants from down south, attended the protest at Hearson Cove on July 10 to rally against further development near ancient rock art in Murujuga National Park. Organised by the group Save Our Songlines, protestors marched from the beach about 800m up the road towards the Yara Pilbara Karratha site and back. Before the march, Kuruma Marduthunera woman Josie Alec said they were obliged to protect “mother Earth”. “We have to fight for our country,” she said. “We can’t just keep on throwing it away and giving it to these people, this industry; we can’t do it anymore. “It has to stop. We have to stand up for our countries, for everything that’s in it, for the stories that I hear from here and all around Australia.” Ms Alec said she was proud to be standing in front of her family and being able to represent First Nations people from across the country. The protest was on the back of Mardudhunera Raelene Cooper and Ms Alec travelling to Switzerland to present in front of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Ms Cooper said the protest was about standing up for the future of the Murujuga. “It’s about recognition and recognition of our culture and our history,” she said.