❓ A parliamentary question regarding the assessment and potential deregistration of Aboriginal heritage sites under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972, particularly concerning the interpretation of section 5(b) and the impact of a recent Supreme Court decision.
AnsweredQoN 396Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
ABORIGINAL HERITAGE ACT 1972 — HERITAGE SITES
396. Hon ROBIN CHAPPLE to the
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs:
I refer to the
answer to my question without notice 240, asked of the Minister for Aboriginal
Affairs in the Legislative Council on Tuesday, 17 March 2015 in which he stated
—
Since 1 November 2012, 22 5(b) sites have changed status to ''not
a site'' as a result of evaluation by the Aboriginal Cultural Material
Committee as part of the section 18 application process.
I also refer to the
recent Supreme Court decision regarding the deregistration of a Port Hedland
Aboriginal sacred site based on the same interpretation of section 5(b) of the
Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972.
(1) Since 1 November 2012, how many of the
184 section 18 applications and 1 776 heritage places submitted to the ACMC for
assessment as sites were found to be ''not a site'' under section
5 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972?
(2) Will the minister provide a list of all such sites referred to in
(1)?
(3) If no to (2), why not?
(4) In the light of the Robinson v ACMC
decision, will all these sites be reassessed by the ACMC to ascertain whether
evaluation of section 5(b) was a contributing factor?
(5) If no to (4), why not?
396. Hon ROBIN CHAPPLE to the
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs:
I refer to the
answer to my question without notice 240, asked of the Minister for Aboriginal
Affairs in the Legislative Council on Tuesday, 17 March 2015 in which he stated
—
Since 1 November 2012, 22 5(b) sites have changed status to ''not
a site'' as a result of evaluation by the Aboriginal Cultural Material
Committee as part of the section 18 application process.
I also refer to the
recent Supreme Court decision regarding the deregistration of a Port Hedland
Aboriginal sacred site based on the same interpretation of section 5(b) of the
Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972.
(1) Since 1 November 2012, how many of the
184 section 18 applications and 1 776 heritage places submitted to the ACMC for
assessment as sites were found to be ''not a site'' under section
5 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972?
(2) Will the minister provide a list of all such sites referred to in
(1)?
(3) If no to (2), why not?
(4) In the light of the Robinson v ACMC
decision, will all these sites be reassessed by the ACMC to ascertain whether
evaluation of section 5(b) was a contributing factor?
(5) If no to (4), why not?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the
question.
(1) There were 1 307
Aboriginal heritage places assessed as not meeting section 5 of the Aboriginal
Heritage Act.
(2) The
information requested cannot be provided within the time frame available;
however, I will provide the information as soon as possible.
(3) Not applicable.
(4)–(5) It
is not necessary for all 1 307 Aboriginal heritage places to be reassessed.
Only those Aboriginal heritage places assessed in relation to section 5(b) of
the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 will be resubmitted to the Aboriginal Cultural
Material Committee for reassessment.
question.
(1) There were 1 307
Aboriginal heritage places assessed as not meeting section 5 of the Aboriginal
Heritage Act.
(2) The
information requested cannot be provided within the time frame available;
however, I will provide the information as soon as possible.
(3) Not applicable.
(4)–(5) It
is not necessary for all 1 307 Aboriginal heritage places to be reassessed.
Only those Aboriginal heritage places assessed in relation to section 5(b) of
the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 will be resubmitted to the Aboriginal Cultural
Material Committee for reassessment.
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