Racial slurs finding for Barmah group

By Geoff Adams

Dec 16, 2024

The complaint emanated from a dispute over the future of brumbies in Barmah National Park.

A tribunal has found a Barmah brumby group has racially vilified a First Nations person during a controversial campaign to avoid the destruction of brumbies in Barmah National Park.

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Parks Victoria has been working with the support of the Yorta Yorta Nations to kill the remaining brumbies in Barmah.

VCAT upheld Monica Morgan’s claims, and on September 11 this year, it declared the Barmah Brumby Preservation Group had racially vilified Ms Morgan, in contravention of Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 (Vic).

VCAT ordered the Barmah Brumby Preservation Group to provide a written apology addressed to Ms Morgan, her family and the Yorta Yorta people that acknowledges the harm suffered from this racial vilification.

The group was also ordered to remove all posters that it had created, sold and displayed that contained depictions or references to Ms Morgan, the Yorta Yorta National Aboriginal Corporation or the Yorta Yorta people, and to stop publishing racially vilifying material on social media.

Ms Morgan, a senior member of the Yorta Yorta Nation and a former CEO of the Yorta Yorta Nations Aboriginal Corporation, lodged an application in the VCAT that argued she had been racially vilified by a feral horse preservation group.

Ms Morgan, through her lawyers at Environmental Justice Australia, said she had been subjected to years of bullying and intimidation from the Barmah Brumby Preservation Group over Yorta Yorta Nation support of government policy to remove feral horses from Barmah National Park.

This bullying took the form of public posters, including images of Ms Morgan’s face, and racist slogans, posts and comments on social media, which Ms Morgan told the tribunal incited hatred and serious contempt against her and Yorta Yorta people on the basis of race.

In evidence presented to the tribunal, Ms Morgan described the impact of seeing the posters, witnessing regular demonstrations held by the feral horse group outside the Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation, including during NAIDOC week, and being followed and targeted in public.

No defence was made to the allegations.

Environment Justice Australia lawyer Virginia Trescowthick said the Barmah Brumby Preservation Group had so far ignored VCAT’s decision.

The Barmah Brumby Preservation Group did not respond to inquiries about the case from Country News.