❓ Dr. Honey questions the Premier on preventing federal intervention in Aboriginal heritage legislation due to delays in state legislation. The Premier defends the government's consultation process and upcoming legislation, while also pointing out the opposition's past role in the Juukan Gorge incident.
AnsweredQoN 639Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ABORIGINAL HERITAGE — LEGISLATION
639. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I refer to the commonwealth inquiry
report, A way forward , into the Jun—Juukan Gorge incident, and I
quote —
In light of the criticisms of the
operation of the current and proposed Western Australian legislation, the
Committee considers that the Commonwealth Government has a role in legislating
for minimum cultural heritage protection standards.
How will the Premier prevent the
federal government from filling the void on cultural heritage legislation given
his failure to introduce, prioritise and pass appropriate state-based
legislation?
639. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I refer to the commonwealth inquiry
report, A way forward , into the Jun—Juukan Gorge incident, and I
quote —
In light of the criticisms of the
operation of the current and proposed Western Australian legislation, the
Committee considers that the Commonwealth Government has a role in legislating
for minimum cultural heritage protection standards.
How will the Premier prevent the
federal government from filling the void on cultural heritage legislation given
his failure to introduce, prioritise and pass appropriate state-based
legislation?
AnswerView source ↗
Just
so we all understand, it is the Juukan Gorge. The decision to allow for the
mining of the Juukan Gorge was m ade by Hon Peter Collier, who is the
leader of your party! That is the first point, but it is relevant. When the
member comes in here carrying on about an
issue that a member of his party is responsible for, don't you think
that is a relevant consideration? I think that is something that people
needed to know—a bit like they needed to know the actual name of the
cave, rather than the member's interpretation of it.
The Aboriginal heritage legislation
was passed by the Tonkin government in 1972, which puts it at nearly 50 years old. It was revolutionary legislation for its
time, but over time there has been criticism of it in that it has not provided sufficient opportunity and say for
Indigenous people, particularly the traditional owners in the areas where
activities take place. Therefore,
there has been a range of attempts to try to overhaul it and put in place new
legislation, including by the last government. Those attempts failed.
When we came to office, we started a consultation program on this. What members
need to understand with these issues is that a huge amount of consultation
needs to go on before we can bring forward legislation. That process went on
under the former minister, Ben Wyatt, and continued under the current minister, Hon Stephen Dawson. We hope
to be able to introduce legislation shortly. That process is being finalised, with the expectation and hope to introduce legislation shortly.
The
thing about legislation in this area is that not everyone will agree. Coming up
with legislation that has everyone's approval and agreement is
not actually possible in this area. But we will come up with modern legislation
that provides for enhanced opportunities for
a proper say by Aboriginal people, which will be a significant improvement on the legislation that is currently in place.
so we all understand, it is the Juukan Gorge. The decision to allow for the
mining of the Juukan Gorge was m ade by Hon Peter Collier, who is the
leader of your party! That is the first point, but it is relevant. When the
member comes in here carrying on about an
issue that a member of his party is responsible for, don't you think
that is a relevant consideration? I think that is something that people
needed to know—a bit like they needed to know the actual name of the
cave, rather than the member's interpretation of it.
The Aboriginal heritage legislation
was passed by the Tonkin government in 1972, which puts it at nearly 50 years old. It was revolutionary legislation for its
time, but over time there has been criticism of it in that it has not provided sufficient opportunity and say for
Indigenous people, particularly the traditional owners in the areas where
activities take place. Therefore,
there has been a range of attempts to try to overhaul it and put in place new
legislation, including by the last government. Those attempts failed.
When we came to office, we started a consultation program on this. What members
need to understand with these issues is that a huge amount of consultation
needs to go on before we can bring forward legislation. That process went on
under the former minister, Ben Wyatt, and continued under the current minister, Hon Stephen Dawson. We hope
to be able to introduce legislation shortly. That process is being finalised, with the expectation and hope to introduce legislation shortly.
The
thing about legislation in this area is that not everyone will agree. Coming up
with legislation that has everyone's approval and agreement is
not actually possible in this area. But we will come up with modern legislation
that provides for enhanced opportunities for
a proper say by Aboriginal people, which will be a significant improvement on the legislation that is currently in place.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.