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The owners of the biggest cattle station in the world have been charged over allegedly building illegal dams on inland rivers and waterholes in outback South Australia. Anna Creek Station covers almost 24,000 square kilometres of country in northern South Australia, and borders Lake Eyre and is owned by the Williams Cattle Company. The native title holders are the Arabana people, who said they first noticed the earthworks while doing a heritage survey with a mining company. Arabana Corporation chairwoman Bronwyn Dodd said the discovery prompted them to then carry out further investigations using satellite imagery. "We found multiple sites right across Anna Creek Station where earthworks had been done, where they had disrupted water flows at heritage sites and all of this had been done unknown to Arabana people and also it killed off a lot of our environment," she said. "My dad told me he was standing on one side of a bank and all the trees are healthy and happy on one side, nice and green — as green as they can be in the outback — and on the other side, where the water had been disrupted, all the trees are now dead and the vegetation's now dead on that side of the country." Court documents show the earthworks were done between 2017 and 2025, with the first hearings in the case to be held in November. They show seven business entities are defendants in the case, and that "at all material times the defendants jointly controlled and operated the Anna Creek cattle station … under the trading name 'Williams Cattle Company'." They're facing charges under the Aboriginal Heritage Act, the Natural Resources Management Act and the Landscape South Australia Act. It's believed to be only the second time charges have been laid under the Aboriginal Heritage Act, and the first time they've been laid against a pastoralist or commercial entity. In a submission to SA Parliament the Arabana Corporation said its satellite surveys found at least 21 sites where earthworks have taken place, measuring a total of 14.25km. Court documents show the prosecution is focusing on two sites under Aboriginal heritage laws, and seven under environmental laws. "Between 18 April 2018 and 8 May 2018, the defendants built a dam wall approximately 2km in length across Balta-Baltana Creek," court documents said. "The construction of the dam altered the landscape and substantially prevented the water in Balta-Baltana Creek from following its usual course." It shows work was also done at a significant mound spring. "Between 3 July 2017 and 10 August 2018, the defendants built three dam walls at William Spring," one of the documents said. The court documents allege the construction at both locations damaged, disturbed or interfered with an Aboriginal site. Bronwyn Dodd said the damage doesn't just impact ecosystems, it also impacts their Ularaka, a term that encompasses Arabana's dreaming and law. "My dad, he grew up on our country, and he worked across our country, including across Anna Creek Station and our people have been protecting and preserving and looking after country and sustaining that for thousands of years," she said. Anna Creek Station was a part of the Kidman family empire but was sold to the Williams Cattle Company in 2016. The family business also owns seven other stations in outback South Australia. The company has been contacted for comment. Offences under the Landscape Management Act can attract penalties of $100,000. Penalties under the Aboriginal Heritage Act were recently increased to up to $2 million for companies — but due to the time of the alleged offending, the station is being charged under the previous Act, which enforces penalties of just $50,000. Documents show the prosecution is also asking the court to order the station owners to remove the dams and remediate the sites. The Aboriginal Heritage charges will be heard in the Coober Pedy Magistrates Court on November 3, while the rest will be heard in the Environment, Resources and Development Court on November 4.
