Uncle Dave Wandin: This water feeds the skin of the Earth. It's the lifeblood of our mother, and our Earth is our mother.

Melinda Kennedy: Honestly, it's everything to us and we need to care for it as it cares for us every day.

[On-screen text: The Waterways of the West – A Unique Landscape]

[On-screen text: Chris Chesterfield, Chair of Waterways of the West Advisory Committee]

Chris Chesterfield: The Waterways of the West have always been important in the lives of people, the traditional owners before the arrival of Europeans, and, of course, over the more than 100 years that Europeans have been in the Melbourne region, they've always been important. From Moonee Ponds Creek through to the Maribyrnong Stony Creek, Laverton Creek, Skeleton Creek, Kororoit Creek, they're all quite unique and different.

[On-screen text: Uncle Dave Wandin, Wurundjeri Woi wurrung Elder]

Uncle Dave: The Maribyrnong and the Werribee are, even in Aboriginal cultural lore, l-o-r-e, they're old. They are extremely old. We have creation stories about the Yarra, you know, for us the Yarra is actually a very, very young river. These are very, very ancient.

[On-screen text: Vincent Pettigrove, Aquatic Pollution Prevention Group, RMIT]

Vincent Pettigrove: The waterways in the west of Melbourne are quite unique, and very different from other parts of Melbourne because of its basalt terrain and armoured streams that are less likely to erode.

[On-screen text: Helen Van den Berg, Friends of Steele Creek]

Helen Van den Berg: The science tells us that when people exercise in nature and have contact with nature, they get a mental health benefit as well as a physical health benefit. You can't get that inside. The river is beautiful, the creek is beautiful. Being near them is beautiful.

[On-screen text: Melinda Kennedy, Wadawurrung Traditional Owner]

Melinda: The waterways are very important to us because we're called the Wadawurrung, 'the people from the water', and we believe it's the blood, the veins, of our Mother Earth.

Chris: People do see waterways as important natural environments. A place where you can connect with nature and people can connect with each other.

[On-screen text: John Forrester, Werribee Riverkeeper]

John Forrester: We need these waterways to be really good places, so farmers can be happy, so the people can have Mother Nature back, and kids can have places to play.

Chris: With a new  population boom in Melbourne, we need to protect the legacy of those waterways and ensure we don't allow the growth of Melbourne to threaten that legacy. But there's also, I guess, a sense that we've lost a lot of the values of those waterways, as well, and we want to try and enhance those values and make sure that those waterways play a really important role in people's lives into the future.

Page last updated: 23/11/23