Kaurna traditional owner Janette Milera will join Edwin Kemp Attrill’s federal court battle against South Australia’s Department of Premier and Cabinet over the controversial North Adelaide golf course development, InDaily can reveal today.

Kemp Attrill – a public servant – has raised about $23,500 through a GoFundMe in two days for his legal costs after Attrill revealed his identity and shared that the challenge could send him bankrupt.

Milera, a Marion woman and member of the stolen generation, is a Kaurna common law holder – meaning the Federal Court recognises her as holding native title rights over Kaurna land, according to traditional Aboriginal laws and Kaurna customs.

Milera is a member of the Pirltawardli Kaurna Collective, a community group concerned about the disturbance of ancestral remains at Possum Park, near par 3 of the existing North Adelaide golf course.

“For (Premier) Peter Malinauskas, it’s a new golf course. For me, it’s my family bloodline,” Milera said about the development plan.

“Pirltawardli has a deep connection for me through my Kaurna ancestral bloodline. I have to stand up and do something and join this fight, not just for this park land but for all the park lands which are currently at risk.”

When the $45 million golf course redevelopment plans were announced in November, Malinauskas said Possum Park’s Par 3 would be an exempt, protected area, where no excavation would occur because of its Kaurna significance.

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“There is a very strict legislative process that dictates the way those [Aboriginal Heritage] applications operate and that was done quite independently of me, as it should be, but effectively there was engagement, and that decision was made clear and easily accommodated,” Malinauskas said.

Milera is joining Kemp Attrill as an applicant on a federal injunction to test the North Adelaide Golf Course Act introduced by the state government last year against national environment and heritage legislation. Their lawyer has sent a letter to the Department of Premier and Cabinet asking for works to be halted and advising of the action.

Kemp Attrill said his GoFundMe fundraising would support legal costs, and “if we lose, I don’t want Janette to have to pay a cent”.

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“I’ll pay out of my own pocket before requiring her to pay any costs,” Kemp Attrill said.

It comes as details surrounding extended road closures and impacts on Victoria Park continue to emerge for the upcoming MotoGP, which community groups expect to include tree felling for a new track.

The North Adelaide Golf Course Act passed parliament last year, it gave the redevelopment a green light to bypass planning laws, but the state government was still required to consult with the Aboriginal community under the Aboriginal Heritage Act.

Milera, backed by the Pirltawardli Kaurna Collective, said she was concerned the consultation was not broad enough, and that the legal changes under the act would “facilitate further dispossession” of Aboriginal people.

The act changed the site from Crown land into land that was owned by the state government as ‘fee simple’, a term for private property rights.

Pirltawardli Kaurna Collective were concerned this land status change was “not required to accommodate Kaurna cultural authority, access, or connection to Country”.

“Not all of our history is written down, they need to get the stories from the elders and the people who have learnt from the elders. But we know our truth and our history,” Milera said.

The consultation was open to any interested Aboriginal person or group, as well as Native Title groups. It was criticised by councillors at the time who called it “tokenistic”, after which the government extended the consultation to run for more than a month.

Native Title Group the Kaurna Yerta Aboriginal Corporation (KYAC) were consulted by the Department of Premier and Cabinet last year, which included developing a cultural heritage management plan to “ensure heritage is managed respectfully” throughout the golf course works.

KYAC Chairperson Tim Agius said in a statement last month that the organisation was in “a difficult position” because “the board’s authority is limited to matters covered under the Aboriginal Heritage Act and it does not have the power to stop developments”.

“Kaurna cultural heritage monitors will remain involved during works, and the state government has committed to avoiding disturbance to any ancestral remains. Should any remains be uncovered during construction, works are expected to cease immediately to allow for appropriate cultural protocols, protection measures and redesign options to be considered wherever possible,” Agius said.

“KYAC acknowledges the rights of its members and the public to protest and advocate their views on this matter.”

Within the Aboriginal community, there are different views on how remains should be handled and preserved if they are found, but the overall sentiment is that ancestral remains should not be disturbed.

Concerns about the park lands burial grounds affected by golf course landscaping have been raised for decades. A 1998 report prepared for the Adelaide City Council by the Kaurna Community Heritage Committee noted that “works on the banks in this area turn up the bones of Aboriginal graves”.

The Department of Premier and Cabinet website says the impact of the golf course works was assessed against the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said on Monday morning he believed his government would be on the right side of the legal action “because we followed all the due process”.

“I have no doubt that there is a desire for martyrdom here, but we’re not going to do that,” Malinauskas told ABC Radio Adelaide.