Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I will give some formal parts of my speech first and then I will speak more generally.

I rise to move the Completion of Kakadu National Park (Koongarra Project Area Repeal) Bill 2013.

Koongarra is an area of native woodland of great environmental and cultural significance, located within the boundaries but not part of Kakadu National Park.

Koongarra was previously excluded from the park because of its potential to be the site for a uranium mine as recommended by the Ranger uranium environmental inquiry.

The traditional owner, through the Northern Land Council, has clearly stated his wish that the land be included in Kakadu National Park, and as a consequence, has waived his interest in Koongarra as a mining lease.

In 1981 parliament enacted the Koongarra Project Area Act 1981 (Cth). The proclamation of the commencement of the relevant provisions of this legislation was made conditional on the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs (now the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) and the relevant land council (the Northern Land Council) providing consent. Such consent has never been provided and accordingly the relevant provisions of the act remain unproclaimed.

Over the years, a number of mineral lease applications relating to the Koongarra area have been made. None of these applications have been granted.

In June 2011, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee included Koongarra into the Kakadu World Heritage area.

The remaining legal steps for the inclusion of Koongarra in Kakadu are close to being finalised. Minister Macklin has provided consent under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976(Cth) and signed a lease of Koongarra to the director of national parks. A proclamation by the Governor-General under section 350 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) is imminent, and will include Koongarra into Kakadu National Park.

The repeal of the Koongarra Project Area Act 1981 (Cth) is part of the process necessary to prevent uranium mining and preserve Koongarra's environmental and cultural treasures forever. The 1,288 hectares of Koongarra will soon be protected by incorporating it into Kakadu National Park in accordance with the clearly expressed wishes of the traditional owner, for the benefit of all Australians.

Today, this parliament takes a step of national and international environmental significance. Kakadu is one of the most precious places on our planet and it is tremendous today to have here, on the floor of the chamber, two people who have championed the values of Kakadu for decades. I refer, of course, to former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, who joins us here on the floor of the chamber, and the traditional owner of Koongarra, Mr Jeffrey Lee. During the time of the Hawke government, Kakadu was massively expanded in stages 2 and 3. In stage 2 of the expansion of Kakadu National Park, Prime Minister Bob Hawke acted against the advice of pretty much every member of his cabinet and made a judgment call that history has shown he was absolutely on the right side of. Can anyone imagine today what Kakadu would look like had Prime Minister Bob Hawke not put all his authority on the line and said, 'It's one of the most precious places on earth and we're going to protect it'?

Today, this legislation being introduced into the parliament allows us to complete the legacy of work that was massively advanced during the years of the Hawke Labor government. Throughout that time, when you looked at the boundary of Kakadu National Park there has always been, effectively, a hole in the heart of it. If you go to the lookout within sight of Nourlangie Rock, you are there with Lightning Dreaming, one of the most spectacular pieces of rock art in the country. You look across from that lookout that thousands of tourists visit every year. The land you are looking at is Koongarra. Can anyone imagine the implications for the integrity of Kakadu National Park if that land, which has not previously been technically part of the national park, were ever to have become a uranium mine? One person made the judgment call on whether or not that would happen.

The Djok clan has one surviving member. Usually we refer to land and we refer to 'traditional owners'. When we refer to Koongarra, there is 'a' traditional owner. His name is Jeffrey Lee and he is here with us now. Against the offers of millions of dollars which were put to him at different occasions for a mining resource of extraordinary value, Jeffrey Lee took a decision that he wanted to be able to leave the land in the state that it had been for the generations that preceded him. He wanted to be as good to his land as his ancestors had been.

The judgement call was his—and it was his call which the Parliament of Australia is now acting on and which the World Heritage Committee, in 2011, acted upon.

I was minister for the environment when that world heritage application was considered, but the architecture of putting that application together and putting it forward was done under my predecessor, Peter Garrett. I am pleased that he too joins us on the floor of the chamber today because these steps belong very much to his strong environmental leadership during his time in the portfolio. One of the first things that happened when I became environment minister was a video conference with members of my department. The Director of National Parks, Mr Peter Cochrane, held up an iPad to the screen and played a video message from Jeffrey Lee, a message that had been recorded on country, asking whether he could personally go to Paris to address the World Heritage Committee on behalf of Australia and explain the importance of this land. There had never been a request that I agreed to more readily. The only delay was the one to two hours that it took for us to be able to get Jeffrey Lee near a telephone for me to be able to confirm that we wanted him there on behalf of Australia. Jeffrey travelled to Paris and the World Heritage Committee resolved that Koongarra would be added to the world heritage boundary. From that moment in 2011 the world heritage nomination of Kakadu was complete.

But there has remained a piece of legislation that contemplates uranium mining if traditional owners consent. When you consider the strength of resolve of that great Australian, Jeffrey Lee, who is here today, I think it is incumbent upon this parliament to say that there should not be a cloud over Kakadu National Park for a day longer; that we should as a parliament respect the wish of the traditional owner and resolve that the environment of Kakadu, the environment of Koongarra, will remain intact forever; that the wishes of the traditional owner, Jeffrey Lee, will become part of the landscape of Australia forever; and that generations into the future will know that the ancestors of the Djok clan have their wishes respected forever.

In Kakadu we have one of the most precious places on earth. This bill helps us to complete Kakadu National Park, it allows this Labor government to conclude the legacy of the Hawke Labor government and it allows Australia to proudly respect the wishes of the traditional owner and say that the wishes you have for your land will be respected forever and Kakadu National Park will be complete. I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.

Harry Jenkins (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will take just a little indulgence to indicate that, in my time, I have not necessarily been moved as much as I have been by the second reading speech by the minister. He is to be congratulated. With former Prime Minister Hawke in the gallery, I remember the battles in trying to save Guratba—Coronation Hill—which we eventually did. To have achieved this step in expanding Kakadu in the way that it is going to be is a great credit not only to the minister but to the government. I apologise to the House for taking up its time but, after 27 years, I think sometimes things happen in this place that are special. My congratulations go to all involved, including the traditional owner. It is a pleasure to be here today on this occasion.