Govt ‘still ignoring’ TOs on Heritage Act

The state government has been urged to bolt more of the failed Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act onto amendments to existing laws by Yamatji traditional owners to better protect cultural sites.

Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation has written to the government requesting it keep the ACHA’s definition of heritage, increased penalties for damaging sites, and extended prosecution timeframes.

Those elements YMAC claimed were not controversial and had already been agreed to under the ACHA.

The call came on the same day the state’s lower house passed the Aboriginal heritage amendment and repeal bill through to the upper house.

YMAC chief executive Simon Hawkins said the state government had ignored its requests.

“We have produced a paper to Premier (Roger) Cook, which was requested of him, and we got no success whatsoever on very modest modifications to the legislation that has already been agreed upon by the government over the last four years,” he said.

Mr Hawkins said while amendments would suffice for now, an overhaul of cultural heritage legislation as promised by WA Labor in the lead-up to the 2017 election was needed.

“Why didn't the government just take a few steps back and listen to some of the issues affecting the farmers,” he said.

“A lot of heritage has already been sorted in the mid-west and the northern part of WA through companies and proponents approaching PBCs.

“There could have been amendments made to the legislation that could have accommodated some of the concerns by the farming community.

“It is such a pity they rushed through a backflip rather than actually saying let’s consult further with those stakeholder groups and see what we can do to maintain the integrity of the legislation rather than going back 50 years.”

The state government announced it would amend the existing Act – which it had previously described as unworkable – in August when it repealed the ACHA five weeks after it came into effect.

Amendments include equal rights of review for traditional owners and a requirement to report new information about Aboriginal sites after section 18s have been improved.

A 10-year government-funded heritage survey will also be undertaken, however landowners will be able to refuse access.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Tony Buti said those amendments represented a “commonsense” approach to Aboriginal cultural heritage.

“The Cook Government has introduced legislation to restore the Aboriginal Heritage Act of 1972 with simple and effective amendments that are consistent with recommendations from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Inquiry into the Juukan Gorge incident,” he said.

“The Government has decided upon a practical solution following consultation with key stakeholders and the implementation group with targeted amendments to the legislation that strikes the right balance to remove any confusion.”

Mr Buti told parliament last week multiple Aboriginal groups had been involved in consultation for the amendments.

Those consulted included the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Council, Nyamba Buru Yawuru, National Native Title Council, and Tjiwarl, Gumala and Wadjuk Aboriginal corporations, Mr Buti said.

Wajarri Yamatji man Anthony Dann said the state government was still not listening to Aboriginal people.

“They didn't consult, they came out and told us what they were going to do, and at no stage did they listen to the Aboriginal people,” he said.

“They listen to the farmers and miners who march on Parliament in their thousands and get the decision that they want.

“Indigenous people, we are small in number and they think they can just push through what they want, when they want.”

Mr Dann said he feared money would always trump heritage protection in Western Australia.