Kamilaroi women and elders of the Walhallow community performed a traditional smoking ceremony and raised the Aboriginal flag this week at the site of the blockade as a further show of support for the community’s stand against BHP’s mine planning ‘test’ drilling at Rossmar Park.

As the fire crackled in the background, the group fell silent as Patricia Duddy read from William Telfer’s 19^th Century account of the history of the Kamilaroi people. White and coloured hands were joined together for the protection of these important traditional lands and in recognition of two centuries of association of graziers and local aborigines in the Caroona area