Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the final report of the inquiry into the destruction of the 46,000-year-old caves at Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia delivered by the Joint Standing on Northern Australia. The final report, titled A Way Forward, builds on the damning interim report, which was titled Never Again. First, I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land here and the land in Warringah and, importantly, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people. Their lands and waters cover almost 11,000 square kilometres of Western Australia's Pilbara region, including the Juukan Gorge area. Sovereignty over those lands was never ceded, and I pay my respects to their elders past and present.

On 24 May 2020 Rio Tinto, in full knowledge of what they were doing, detonated explosives in a sacred site of the Indigenous PKKP people. The Juukan rock shelters were the location of their ceremonies and were sacred sites for the storage of artefacts for 46,000 years. It's important we stop and ponder to reflect on that: 46,000 years. This is a great loss to the world and to the history of civilisation. The shelters demonstrated one of the longest periods of continuous habitation on the planet. They showed that Indigenous Australians had lived in that place since before the last ice age. The Juukan rock shelters were clustered around a perpetual source of freshwater in an otherwise parched landscape. In great symbolism of the intersection of the physical world and the spiritual world of the Indigenous custodians of the land, following the destruction of the cultural sites that occurred, that water source has now run dry. As Australians, we should be celebrating our rich history. Indigenous Australians, through the Uluru Statement from the Heart, have invited us to share in this history and walk with them on a path to reconciliation. I strongly support the call in the foreword of the report for legislative frameworks in all Australian jurisdictions to be modernised and to bring meaningful protections for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage to ensure that nothing like the destruction of Juukan Gorge ever happens again. Sadly, that is not the case as to what is happening. Approvals are still occurring.

The committee recommended that the Australian parliament legislate for an overarching Commonwealth legislative framework, based on the protection of cultural heritage rather than its destruction. I'd argue that this legislation should be prioritised, with only a few sitting weeks left of this 46th Parliament. The government should consider reforms to environmental protections along those lines.

The report highlights that states have failed, and that's a concern that I and many others have, in relation to the existing reforms proposed by the government to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act which seek, in fact, to remove Commonwealth protections and have a single-touch approach driven by the state legislation. When the states have failed so dramatically, and this report recommends that the Commonwealth establish nationally consistent legislation and establish standards, I would ask why they continue to pursue the absolute opposite course of action through their legislative agenda in the Senate. We saw shameful conduct by the government this year in relation to the EPBC Act amendments and a complete lack of willingness to follow the very strong recommendations on stronger environmental and cultural protections.

The committee also recommended a set of standards and best practice in the management of cultural heritage sites and objects be established and endorsed by Commonwealth, state and territory governments. This is a national standard and it should be established. One of the tools that is recommended to assist with this is the use of the Indigenous Ranger Program. Only a few days ago, I wrote to the minister for Indigenous affairs, advocating for an expansion of the Indigenous Ranger Program, following advocacy from constituents in Warringah on the issue. We're calling on the government to double the number of Indigenous rangers over the next 10 years; to create a fund for ranger training, capacity building, networking and infrastructure costs; to double the funding for the Indigenous Protected Areas program over the next four years; and to ensure equal employment opportunities for women rangers by 2030. The recommendations argue that the authority for oversight of decisions related to culturally significant areas should be transitioned from the Minister for the Environment to the Minister for Indigenous Australians. When one looks at the outcome at Juukan Gorge, it's clear that the current decision-making process, of having this in the hands of the Minister for the Environment, failed dismally—there is no other way of describing it. And so it should be transferred.

This approach, as we heard in the inquiry, is part of the failing of the system, because there was confusion created by the current system of approvals, and, while this transition is important, the model is employed in many states and territories. But there still remains a lot of conflicts of interest as a result of multiple portfolios being held by the responsible ministers. In Western Australia, for example—in particular, in relation to Juukan Gorge—the minister for Indigenous affairs at the time was also the Treasurer, and so it's clear there were conflicts in how the decision-making went in relation to that approval. In South Australia, the minister for Indigenous affairs is also the Premier—clearly, again, a conflict. It results in conflicts of interest between the state's finances and revenue from mining and the destruction of cultural sites, and the imperative to in fact protect and preserve cultural sites. So I urge the federal government to ensure that such conflict does not arise, should this recommendation be implemented.

Recommendation 6, which recommends that the Australian government develop a model for a cultural heritage truth-telling process, is welcome. However, it needs to be viewed in the bigger picture of recognition of Indigenous people. I would posit that the Uluru Statement from the Heart and that process would be the most effective model for the development of the cultural heritage truth-telling process. Enshrinement of the Indigenous voice to parliament in the Constitution is an important first step to that model. It was something that was much debated prior to the last election, and yet no progress has been made in this 46th Parliament by the Morrison government. The makarrata, which would be a venue in this House for Indigenous people to oversee policies and legislation that impact them, would be the most effective form of truth-telling process. It would be an active voice and one that would give individuals, governments and companies a clear avenue for engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage issues.

We need to do more to celebrate our history—and we hear a lot from the minister about how we should have a positive view on Australian history! But where he completely fails his portfolio is in the recognition, in fact, of our cultural history—of our Indigenous history. In my view, there is a complete lack of education about and awareness, respect and celebration of the deep cultural heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. I know my generation were failed by the system. It completely failed in properly educating us on the richness and importance of that history.

Overseas, museums abound with Indigenous cultural artefacts, yet here in Australia we are sorely lacking. We do not have a national Indigenous museum in Australia. It's outrageous. Many of the artefacts recovered from mining sites are in shipping containers and the offices of mining companies. These are artefacts that are thousands of years old. Think of artefacts from Egypt, from the pyramids, and the kind of care that is taken in that respect. But here in Australia such artefacts are put in containers or in the back offices of mining companies. We need to store these artefacts properly, to highlight their significance, to build awareness through education and celebration of our rich cultural history, and we need to make sure that Indigenous elders direct this process.

It is only through the elevation of the history and stories of our Indigenous peoples that we will build respect and learn to take responsibility as a nation for the rich cultural heritage developed over tens of thousands of years. I call on the Minister for Indigenous Australians to progress development of a national ossuary for the remains that are unable to be restored to their original country or nation, and to develop a set of protocols for the storage and keeping of artefacts recovered from mine sites. It is mind-boggling that we don't have that in place. We don't even have from the federal Minister for Indigenous Australians, from the government, a set of protocols for the proper storage and conservation of artefacts. It's just so disrespectful.

The establishment of a national Indigenous museum, as I said, is sorely overdue and something that should be a priority. I remind the minister of the proposal to establish a museum at Manly—but I know there are many others—where in fact Captain Phillip first set foot on Australian soil. Many Indigenous elders have said to me it would be a process of healing to go back to where songlines were broken.

Debate adjourned.

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