Dear Hornsby Shire Council Staff, Mayor Ruddock, Councillors, and General Manager,
Thank you for allowing the General Manager of Council to read my brief submission to Council last night (12/06/2024). I had the pleasure of speaking to some of you yesterday prior to the meeting. I came away from each of these conversations with the knowledge that you as a whole have some knowledge of a ‘debate’ regarding the legitimacy of the people you know as GuriNgai representatives, namely Tracey Howie, Neil Evers and Laurie Bimson.
I understand that the impression you have been operating under is that these people are Aboriginal, community minded people who want what’s best for the community – I wish this were the case.
Tracey Howie is not Aboriginal, and is not related to Bungaree or Matora – this has been confirmed through DNA analysis, in addition to the work of Anthropologist Dr Natalie Kwok.
Laurie Bimson, and Neil Evers, learned that they may possibly have a distant Aboriginal Ancestor, only when they were told this by their cousin, Bob Waterer, in the early 2000’s.
These three men were led to believe their Ancestor was a ‘GuriNgai’ person, by Tracey Howie and her family at this time, and looked to Tracey Howie and her biological Uncle Warren Whitfield as ‘Elders’ and ‘Senior Leaders’ of the supposed GuriNgai People.
The ‘Culture’ these people practise bears no resemblance to any actual Aboriginal Culture, because it is the creation of non-Aboriginal People as recently as 2 decades ago.
These are matters of fact, backed by solid, publicly available evidence, and widely known in the non-Aboriginal Community since NAIDOC 2023 (July 7, 2023).
My family and I ensured that Hornsby Council was made aware that the people they are relying upon through their HATSICC, were non-Aboriginal charlatans, and that Hornsby Shire Council appeared to have been the victims of the cruel GuriNgai hoax.
Since then I learned that Tracey Howie failed to declare her pre-existing personal and business relationship with historian Michael Bennet.
I learned that the GuriNgai, through HATSICC, had been given what appeared to be exclusive access to Cultural consultative and other works, despite not being qualified, or Aboriginal. I looked in horror as another plaque was installed at Brooklyn, recognising the GuriNgai and Darug Peoples as sharing this area.
As you should be aware, the only genuine Guringai People are those of the Barrington region far North of Hornsby Shire.
You should be aware that Hornsby Shire Council does not have the legal, ethical and Cultural responsibility of determining who is and is not Aboriginal, who should and should not be recognised as being Aboriginal, and who gets to speak on behalf of, and as Aboriginal People. Yet this is what you do, each and every time you recognise the false GuriNgai People as being Aboriginal, and as in any way representing Aboriginal People, Culture and Community.
I was told by a Councillor yesterday that this matter is up to the community to decide, and to let Council know when there is a definite answer – we have done this, over a year ago.
The reason why this issue will not go away is the GuriNgai have falsely claimed my families stories, knowledge, homelands and Ancestors, and they are being aided in this endeavour by Hornsby Shire Council.
Since yesterday, Hornsby Shire Council can no longer claim to be unaware that the Aboriginal Community recognises the GuriNgai as exactly what they are – not us.
Hornsby Shire Council has actively avoided the truth for too long, and all the residents of this Shire deserve so much more than they are currently being served.
Shame on each member of Hornsby Shire Council who last night voted to continue this GuriNgai farce – you’ve cemented your legacy in the minds of the community you do not have commercial relationships with,
You should know better, but choose greed and ignorance over truth and justice – quite a legacy.
JD Cooke
A Long Con, Gone on Too Long. 
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