Telstra investigated over alleged land clearing and buffel grass spread in culturally significant SA wilderness

Telstra is being investigated by South Australia’s Department for Environment and Water over alleged environmental breaches in the Nullarbor Wilderness Protection Area, after Freedom of Information documents revealed concerns about unauthorised land clearing and road grading in a culturally significant landscape.

The investigation centres on activity near the Koonalda Caves Track, within a remote part of South Australia’s far west where cultural heritage and ecological values are closely connected. FOI documents obtained by the ABC indicate the department began examining the matter in July 2025 following allegations that contractors working for Telstra InfraCo undertook “unauthorised clearing” while working on fibre optic cabling along the Trans Continental Railway Corridor.

According to the documents, contractors graded an existing section of the Koonalda Cave/Hughes Track, with images shown to the Alinytjara Wilurara Landscape Board described in meeting minutes as “landscape destruction”. The allegations also raise concern the works may have spread buffel grass, a declared weed in South Australia, through disturbed soil and vehicle movement.

A First Nations person with knowledge of the investigation said the incident had not been shared publicly despite its implications for Country. “Cultural heritage value is white man speak for ruins, but for Aboriginal communities, culture is land,” they said, describing anxiety about the impacts of buffel grass and the broader disturbance of a sensitive area.

Buffel grass is recognised as a major threat in arid and semi-arid ecosystems because it can outcompete native plants and alter fire regimes. South Australian government guidance describes buffel grass as a declared, notifiable weed under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019, with restrictions on movement and responsibilities for landholders to control its spread.

Telstra said it was “sorry for the damage to the track and is committed to repairing and restoring it” and indicated a buffel grass monitoring program would be put in place. The Department for Environment and Water is continuing its investigation, and remediation work is expected to proceed alongside ongoing assessment of weed risk and environmental impacts.

The case has sharpened scrutiny of how major infrastructure projects operate in remote regions where cultural landscapes, conservation protections and biosecurity obligations intersect. For Traditional Owners and local governance bodies, the core issue is not only physical damage but whether transparency and accountability match the seriousness of harm when Country is altered without authorisation.