Energex contractor damages Native Food Business

Help Us Fight for Justice and Protect Our Cultural Trees

Hi everyone, Tracey and Doug here from Native Oz Bushfoods.

We are an Aboriginal-owned bushfood business located in the Lockyer Valley, QLD. For the past 6 years, we’ve proudly grown over 1,000 bushfood trees on our property for tourism, education, and training purposes. These trees are more than just plants; they are integral to our cultural heritage, our business, and the broader community.

On the 16th of January 2022, something devastating happened.

At 3:30 pm, an Energex contractor arrived at our property, which is clearly marked with a biosecurity sign and our phone number. He began rolling up spray hoses that had been draped over his truck. We immediately ran over to him, introduced ourselves, and asked him not to spray any chemicals along our boundary as we have culturally significant trees that we harvest. He dismissed us, saying he "wasn't stupid," then got into his truck and left.

But the next morning, at 6:00 am, the same contractor returned. This time, he began cutting down our wattle trees—trees that were entirely on our side of the fence—and poisoned them too. He worked his way up the fence line and then reached the patch of trees I’m standing in front of now—our northern sandalwood trees.

We were incredibly privileged to have this wild patch of northern sandalwood growing on our property. These trees are near extinction in other parts of Australia. The trees have edible little black plums, and their heartwood, used for oils, is highly valuable.

You may wonder why we’re sharing this. ETS, the company contracted by Energex, denies liability despite admitting their error to our local MP, Jim McDonald. They’ve even offered to do contamination testing but refuse to discuss compensation.

The day this happened, we had an after-school “Touch and Taste” tour booked. We had to cancel it because of the chemicals sprayed along our boundary. To this day, ETS has not provided us with a chemical sheet for what they sprayed.

This patch of sandalwood trees was one we had nurtured for over 10 years. In the 6 weeks since lodging a complaint with Energex, we have had a visit from their managers, but instead of offering compensation, it feels like they're more interested in brushing this under the rug.

We’ve spent weeks gathering evidence and monitoring our trees. However, we know the legal costs for this battle will be enormous, and we need help. We never ask for anything, but we are asking now—if you can spare even $1 to help us fight this, we would be forever grateful.

We believe this attack was malicious. We are an Aboriginal-owned business, and the contractor knew who we were. After cutting our trees, he drove past our gate not once but twice, smiling and waving at us.

The image above is what remains of our 150 northern sandalwood trees.

Every dollar raised will go toward legal fees to fight this injustice. We need to stand up for our business, our cultural heritage, and the environment.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story and for any support you can offer.

With gratitude,

Tracey and Doug

Native Oz Bushfoods