❓ Hon Neil Thomson questions the Premier regarding the State Development Bill 2025's impact on Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 section 18 processes and consultation with native title representative bodies. The Premier clarifies the bill's intent to expedite internal government processes, not compromise consultation.
AnsweredQoN 666Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
State Development Bill—Aboriginal Heritage Act
666. Hon Neil Thomson to
the Leader of the House representing the Premier:
I refer to the
announcement on the State Development Bill 2025 and the Premier's comments
about reducing timeframes of approvals.
(1) Will the provisions in the bill apply to
section 18 processes under the Aboriginal Heritage
Act 1972 ?
(2) If yes to (1), is the intent of the timeframe
notices that can be issued under the bill to seek to modify the Aboriginal
Cultural Heritage Committee's deliberation times?
(3) Do Western Australian native title
representative bodies support the bill's potential modifications to the
Aboriginal Heritage Act's section 18 timelines?
666. Hon Neil Thomson to
the Leader of the House representing the Premier:
I refer to the
announcement on the State Development Bill 2025 and the Premier's comments
about reducing timeframes of approvals.
(1) Will the provisions in the bill apply to
section 18 processes under the Aboriginal Heritage
Act 1972 ?
(2) If yes to (1), is the intent of the timeframe
notices that can be issued under the bill to seek to modify the Aboriginal
Cultural Heritage Committee's deliberation times?
(3) Do Western Australian native title
representative bodies support the bill's potential modifications to the
Aboriginal Heritage Act's section 18 timelines?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the
honourable member for some notice of the question. On behalf of the Leader of
the House, the following response has been provided by the Premier.
(1) Timeframe notices can be applied to Aboriginal
Heritage Act functions, this includes section 18 processes.
(2) No. The intent of these notices is that they
are issued to expedite timeframes for assessment by the Department of Planning,
Lands and Heritage to allow the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Committee to make
informed decisions about section 18 consents sooner.
(3) Aboriginal representative bodies were briefed
on this bill and its interface with the Aboriginal Heritage Act. Representative
bodies were informed that timeframe notices will focus on improving government
processes and will not be used to compromise consultation processes with
representative bodies or traditional owners.
honourable member for some notice of the question. On behalf of the Leader of
the House, the following response has been provided by the Premier.
(1) Timeframe notices can be applied to Aboriginal
Heritage Act functions, this includes section 18 processes.
(2) No. The intent of these notices is that they
are issued to expedite timeframes for assessment by the Department of Planning,
Lands and Heritage to allow the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Committee to make
informed decisions about section 18 consents sooner.
(3) Aboriginal representative bodies were briefed
on this bill and its interface with the Aboriginal Heritage Act. Representative
bodies were informed that timeframe notices will focus on improving government
processes and will not be used to compromise consultation processes with
representative bodies or traditional owners.
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.