Built a Bridge | Hurt Rainbow Serpent | Go to Jail

In August 2023, the Western Australian Government ditched sweeping new Aboriginal cultural heritage laws after just 39 days in operation following widespread community backlash. I’m glad they’re gone. However, in the small town of Toodyay in the Wheatbelt region, prominent local real estate agent Tony Maddox was charged for building a bridge over a brook, a somewhat evil bridge as it turns out, under the unamended Aboriginal Heritage Act of 1972. Can you guess why he got charged?

This is an article from the ABC at the time: “Toodyay real estate agent Tony Maddox pleads not guilty to Aboriginal Heritage Act breach”. In it they state: “The prosecution claimed the works, which included the removal of a large amount of silt from the Boyagerring Brook running through his property, disrupted the Waugul — a rainbow serpent central to Noongar mythology. The prosecution’s statement of facts states that any alteration to the Waugul’s home could scare it from the water, causing it to dry up and causing harm to the surrounding environment and people.”

Statements of fact can now include information on mythology? I think rationally, mythology should stay the hell away from anything considered factual. This wouldn’t be so absurd except that Mr Maddox is facing up to nine months in jail, and a fine of up to $20,000.

According to Mr Maddox, the creek crossing is the only point of entry to his property, with the work carried out to prevent erosion caused by recent heavy rain and flooding. He said he had discussed the concrete bridge with local Aboriginal elders, and they had made no complaints. But now his life is in turmoil and he’s facing imprisonment over what? A mythological rainbow serpent? Is this just not insane? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for freedom of religion, but when that freedom impinges on somebody else’s literal freedom, that’s where I draw the line. This is not sensible. This is ridiculous, and I don’t care who I offend. If this guy goes to jail over this, that’s the end of Australia in my opinion.

In a television interview on Sky News, Mr Maddox said: “I literally haven’t worked all year, I’ve been fighting this for a year. This just destroys your heart. Destroys your head, destroys your soul. It’s knocked the hell out of me as a human being. And what is the outcome? The outcome is going to be an awful lot of money piling up. For what? Even if I am found guilty, there is nothing in the Act that tells them they have the power to ask me to remove the crossing. I don’t understand the heavy-handedness of the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage. Why wouldn’t they instead just say, ‘You've broken our Act, we’re aware you didn’t know anything about it, let’s educate you and tell you about it’. I’ve had more education from our local elders than I have from the department.”

Mr Maddox is set to face a two-day trial in Perth starting next week, February 22. He has been running his real estate business for the last 33 years and could lose his real estate licence if he is convicted. All over what? A rainbow snake who is offended by a bridge? This is bordering on the absurd and will result in destroying Australia if this goes on much longer. The Indigenous Voice to Parliament already put a huge rift between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, and now, if a real estate agent goes to jail because he offended a mythological snake, our country is done.

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