Hindmarsh Island bridge

The underside of the Hindmarsh Island bridge viewed from Goolwa looking toward Hindmarsh Island.

In 1989 Tom and Wendy Chapman proposed that a bridge be built from Goolwa on the mainland to Hindmarsh Island, near the Murray Mouth, to support their development of Hindmarsh Island Marina. In 1991 the Bannon Labor Government stated that it would build the bridge.

However, in 1994 Federal Aboriginal Affairs Minister Robert Tickner placed a 25 year ban on building a bridge to Hindmarsh Island, as concerns had been raised that the site was sacred to the local Ngarrindjeri community - women from the community claimed the island was special to them for reasons that could not be revealed.

Some months later, a separate group of indigenous women declared that the so-called 'secret women's business' had been made up. Following this counter statement, there were several protracted court challenges involving opposing groups. In 1995 a Royal Commission was established by the South Australian government to investigate the validity of the claimed beliefs of the Ngarrindjeri women, and it concluded that the claims were false.

Federal legislation was passed to prevent further challenges to the project. However, not all were convinced that the Ngarrindjeri claim regarding the presence of sacred sites was not valid, and that building of a bridge was desirable.

A High Court challenge was undertaken, but the Federal legislation was upheld. Despite a decade of controversy, the bridge was built and officially opened on 4 March 2001. In August that year the Chapmans commenced Federal Court proceedings seeking damages for defamation. In rejecting these the Federal Court ruled that the women’s claims could be genuine Aboriginal tradition, and in 2010 this was accepted and endorsed by the South Australian Government.

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