Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank both members for their contribution. The government of course is very keen to see that this legislation can be enacted by the parliament before the parliament is prorogued at the end of June. Its rationale for wanting to do that is to ensure that there is greater certainty for present and future access users of the Woomera Prohibited Area. I thank the member for Fadden for his in principle support and acknowledge that the Senate will look at the fine detail not just of the legislation but also of the rules which have recently been published in draft form.

I thank the member for Melbourne for his contribution. I will not rise to the occasion to respond to the Greens well-known policy of total opposition to any development which might involve uranium and general opposition to minerals resources development per se. I would prefer to deal with the point of his speech which I think has some merit and does need some response, both now and into the future. It is of course very important, and I acknowledge the member for Melbourne's contribution in this respect, that, as the legislation and the rules are progressed through the parliament, there is appropriate consultation with interested stakeholders—in particular, the Indigenous groups who have a legal interest and a philosophical and spiritual interest in the area concerned.

The first occasion on which the Department of Defence sought to consult with the relevant groups was in 2010, in the course of the Hawke review. Whilst the member may make a point about consultation on the legislation, it is not the case that this is a new issue or an issue where there is any great surprise. There has been consultation and efforts at consultation on the Woomera Prohibited Area, how the government of the day could open up greater access to new users and how the rights of existing users could be preserved. These have been in play, under consideration and in discussion with relevant groups since the Hawke review was established. The Hawke review's time period was 2010-11 and, over the period of the receipt of the Hawke review, the government, initially through me as Minister for Defence and the then minister for minerals and resources, Martin Ferguson, together with the South Australian government, made it clear that we accepted the review's recommendations and we wanted to implement them.

That is the process we are now engaging in. so far as the legislation itself and the rules are concerned, the legislation makes it expressly clear that any existing right that a current person who has access to the Woomera Prohibited Area has will be expressly preserved by this legislation. There is an express reference to the rights of Indigenous communities laid out in the relevant South Australia land rights legislation. Those rights are expressly preserved. There are, of course, in this legislative regime rules that will be published with the authority of the Minister for Defence and the Minister for Minerals and Resources which are disallowable and subject to parliamentary scrutiny. They were published on the same day that I introduced the legislation into the House some two or three weeks ago. They are also the subject of exhaustive consultation. So far as Indigenous groups and land owners are concerned, my advice is that in the course of the next week there will be further consultations on the detail of both the legislation and the rules, as is appropriate. But the primary starting point so far as the Indigenous land holders are concerned is that their existing rights are not disturbed in any way and that is expressly and advisedly made clear by the legislation. Having said that, it is important to ensure that there is good faith and confidence in the consultative processes and mechanisms, and that will occur.

If I could encourage both of my colleagues to encourage their Senate colleagues to understand the importance of this framework legislation. It will clarify the rights of new access holders; it will preserve the rights of existing land holders; and enable greater access to the area itself for the purposes of an appropriate balance between national security, reflected by the testing regime, and the economic interest which will see greater mineral resources development in that large land area. It will provide benefits to the state of South Australia and the people of South Australia, including Indigenous groups and land holders.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.

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