Tony Maddox: Agonising wait for Toodyay real estate agent charged with Aboriginal Heritage Act breach

A Toodyay real estate agent charged with breaching WA’s Aboriginal Heritage Act has an agonising wait to learn his fate as a magistrate mulls over his decision. Tony Maddox, 71, was charged by the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage last year, accused of damaging or altering a part of the Avon River — Boyagerring Brook — which runs through his farm north-east of Perth, without first seeking ministerial consent. Mr Maddox bolstered a creek crossing that provides access to his house, concreting the top surface, pumping in bore water and removing silt to create a large artificial lake that he says has become an animal sanctuary. Represented by barrister and former attorney-general Christian Porter, the business owner argued during a two day trial in Perth Magistrates Court last month that the work was necessary. The previous crossing, comprised of just sand and rocks when he bought the land in 2014, kept eroding during the rainy season. Mr Maddox further argued that he could not have been reasonably expected to have known the Act applied to the brook - with Mr Porter questioning whether the Aboriginal heritage-registered Avon River site extended to tributaries. In what appeared to be a massive blow to the State’s case, the department’s former registrar of Aboriginal sites, Tania Butler, conceded that an online database showing the boundaries of significant sites could sometimes be inaccurate - so he could have fallen foul of the laws even if he checked. But Mr Maddox will have to wait to hear the reserved decision of Magistrate Andrew Matthews, who adjourned the matter on Wednesday until April 18, expecting further submissions. The case had been moved to a larger courtroom, presumably to accommodate Mr Maddox’s large group of supporters, who expressed disappointment outside that his stressful limbo continued. If convicted, Mr Maddox faces up to nine months in jail as well as a $20,000 fine. He has been charged under the original 1972 Act, which the State Government reverted to last year after a having to repeal a colossal update that sparked outrage from landowners who struggled to understand the complex and onerous new rules. The rewrite responded to Rio Tinto’s destruction of Juukan Gorge caves in the Pilbara, and while it was binned, an amendment was added to the Section 18 process empowering traditional owners to appeal a ministerial decision to allow a mining company to destroy cultural heritage.