17/12/2019
Statement on the Milkwood Trees
The National Trust has received many enquiries about the milkwood trees chopped down by Charles Darwin University on the weekend.
I can confirm the trees were on the National Trust Register of Significant Trees. They were listed in 1986 and recorded as being planted in the 1880s.
The Register has no legal power of protection of the trees - it is simply a recognition of trees which are important and significant to the Northern Territory.
More concerning is that Charles Darwin University removed the trees after they were nominated for heritage protection, as a way of perverting the Northern Territory's heritage protection system.
If other developers see what Charles Darwin University has done and if it is without consequence, then they might be encouraged to also bulldoze or destroy buildings of potential significance before they have the opportunity to be assessed. We regard this as an unacceptable gap in the system of heritage protection.
Therefore, the National Trust will be lobbying the Heritage Council, and through them Minister Lauren Moss, to amend the Heritage Act so that this wilful destruction is not encouraged in the future.
Many people have compared this to the destruction of the Hotel Darwin - in many ways, that’s a fair comparison.
Owners and developers from all around the Northern Territory accept and acknowledge the system of heritage protection and work within it. It is only a very small proportion who actively try to abuse the process, or who rush destroying the Territory’s heritage to evade the system that every other developer goes through. It is very disappointing that Charles Darwin University, funded from our taxes, is in this small proportion of bad faith operators.
In the meantime, we will regretfully go through the process of removing the trees that Charles Darwin University cut down from the Register of Significant Trees.
Tim Dixon, Director
(Photo from ABC Darwin)