Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
1 of 22 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
ABC News (AU)'s corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Environment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
In short:
The Central Darling Shire Council has discovered more than 600 unmarked graves in far-west New South Wales.
asserted
Council → discover → Wales
They found them without disturbing the earth, using ground-penetrating radar.
What's next?
asserted
What → find → radar
Efforts to identify those buried are ongoing.
asserted
Efforts → identify → those
The first time Dave Hunter went searching for unmarked graves was as a teenager on his grandfather's farm in Rushworth, northern Victoria.
asserted
Hunter → go → Rushworth
After being given the task of finding buried bulls on the property, he built a rudimentary "radar" with a multimeter.
asserted
he → give → multimeter
He has since found hundreds of graves, most recently in far-west New South Wales.
asserted
He → find → Wales
In July 2025, the Central Darling Shire Council contracted him to determine whether there were any lost graves in Menindee and White Cliffs.
asserted
Council → contract → Menindee
Using his equipment, he found more than 300 burials in each place, all connected to the existing cemeteries.
asserted
all → use → cemeteries
Mr Hunter said there was a real sense of satisfaction to see all the markers on the previously lost graves.
asserted
Hunter → say → graves
"Particularly in Menindee, it was really eye-opening to see so many," he said.
asserted
he → open → many
Finding those once lost
The council's cemetery officer, Tammie McMaster, is now on a mission to identify the souls beneath the ground.
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officer → find → ground
She has been speaking to locals and scouring council records and archives.
asserted
She → speak → records
"If I could do the majority [of the graves], just to put a name to these people, [that] would be absolutely fantastic," Ms McMaster said.
uncertain
McMaster → do → people
The council is looking at repeating the project in other far-west communities, including in Wilcannia and Tilpa.
asserted
council → look → Wilcannia
Ms McMaster said the project was vital not only for future planning in the cemeteries, but for honouring the dead.
asserted
project → say → dead
"It's respectful to the people that are laid to rest, and to families and relatives," she said.
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she → lay → families
Relying on technology
Unmarked graves are common in Australia, as a result of how someone was laid to rest, or records and markers becoming lost to time.
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records → rely → time
Mr Hunter uses a sophisticated ground-penetrating radar, which looks a bit like a lawn mower, to find lost graves without once ever lifting a shovel.
asserted
which → use → shovel
His radar technology helps him measure electrical resistivity, or disturbances in the soil.
"
asserted
him → help → soil
It's important to note that we're not actually detecting a body as such or any sort of skeletal remains,"Mr Hunter said.
asserted
Hunter → note → body
"It is literally just the hole that has been dug in the ground that this technology detects."
While it is not an exact science, Mr Hunter takes an educated guess when figuring out whether he has found a grave.
asserted
he → dig → grave
"If we're in a cemetery context, and the disturbance is roughly six foot by roughly three foot wide, and goes down at least a metre, then generally speaking, you're probably looking at a grave," Mr Hunter said.
asserted
Hunter → go → grave
The Aporia