20/03/2026
Save Wallum Statement
There has been growing concern within our community regarding the refusal of council to release documentation relevant to the current Federal Court case concerning Wallum.
The community is asking valid questions.
Why is this information being withheld?
Why are those elected to represent community not standing more visibly with us in this moment—especially when they have in the past?
These questions matter because what is becoming increasingly clear is that this situation is not simply about council making the wrong decision, or individuals failing the community by refusing to act.
What we are witnessing is something much deeper. We are watching, in real time, what happens when a system that is meant to serve community is held at ransom by forces it cannot easily challenge.
We are witnessing the flaws of that system—where large-scale economic interests hold such power that entire communities, ecosystems, and governance structures begin to organise themselves around it. We are seeing the threat of legal action, financial risk, and institutional protection outweigh truth and transparency, forcing even those who care deeply about the environment and community into positions of constraint and moral conflict.
And perhaps most unsettling of all, we are being asked to face the truth that we are living within a structure where capital is not just influential—but dominant. Where capitalism operates beyond any single person or organisation; rarely named directly, yet shaping decisions at every level of policy and governance, demanding compliance even from those who do not believe in its value.
Through this process, we are being called to move beyond demonising individuals and instead address the power structures that prevent good people from making meaningful change.
We know that many individuals within council care deeply about saving Wallum and safeguarding the ecosystems of Bundjalung Country, and that many have supported this movement in meaningful ways. But care, on its own, does not dismantle systems. What we are seeing now is the limit of what individuals can achieve when the structures themselves are misaligned.
So this moment asks something more of all of us—not just “who is right?” or “who is wrong?” but:
what kind of system are we living within, when communities cannot access information that may impact the protection of their own environment?
What kind of system produces a situation where councils feel unable to act transparently due to fear of legal consequence?
What kind of system allows development interests to carry this level of influence over decisions that affect living ecosystems—ecosystems that we all depend on?
Saving Wallum is not an abstract issue for those who live here. It may be abstract to politicians or board members not of this place, but it is not abstract to us. Capitalism cannot love land—but we can.
We are the community. We hold relationship with this place, responsibility to the species of Wallum, and honour the memory and ongoing presence of the traditional custodians of this land, and the future of Bundjalung Country for generations to come.
We have gathered to protect Wallum because we refuse to accept that places like this are expendable. We are not interested in turning this into a story of division between council and community because we can see the deeper forces at play.
We see that the issues impacting Wallum are not only about individuals failing to act—it is about a system that makes it difficult, and at times unsafe, to act in full alignment with community and ecological wellbeing.
When systems consistently prioritise economic outcomes over living systems, something has gone fundamentally wrong—not just here, but everywhere.
We are asking for transparency and courage. But more than that, we are asking for an honest reckoning with the structures that shape these decisions. Because without that, this pattern will repeat—not just here, but across Australia, again and again.
So this moment matters—not just for Wallum, but for what it reveals about the world we are living in, and the world we are choosing to create every day.
We remain committed despite the pain and frustration—to the land, to each other, and to telling the truth about what is happening, even when it is uncomfortable.
We will not be pulled into the easy but unhelpful fracture between community and council. We stand together in the belief that community, ecology, and future generations must matter more than unchecked power.
Save Wallum
Photo by Beverly Callow
