Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Western Australians are angry, and you can't blame them. The WA state Labor government has launched an attack on their property rights. WA Labor's new Aboriginal cultural heritage laws mean thousands of landowners can't dig a hole or plant a tree without a permit or paying thousands in survey fees. Last week, I held my first forum with locals to discuss these radical laws. It was a cold, windy night, yet 250 residents turned out to have their say. The mood in the room was clear: anger and frustration.

But if you think these radical laws are unique to WA, think again. Those opposite are planning their own federal version of these laws to continue Labor's assault on Australian farmers and landowners. You don't need a wild imagination to see how much worse this could be with a constitutional voice to parliament and government. As WA Premier Roger Cook said himself, the Aboriginal cultural heritage laws and the Voice 'do the same thing'. Both make special claims for one group of Australians over everyone else. This is divisive and damaging to our social cohesion.

Now, frightened by the chaos of the WA laws, federal Labor are deliberately delaying progress on their legislation. They are clearly trying to hide their true intentions until after the referendum on the Voice is over. We on this side reject that style of politics. We want to see more unity, more cohesion and more fairness in Australia. As I said on Tuesday night: send Labor a message; say no to the Voice.

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