Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

The senator reflects on what we would all agree is a great tragedy. There are those in our community whom I simply do not understand. They go to some of our iconic natural heritage sites and want to carve their names in the trees. It is beyond me; I do not understand that and I am sorry that you were affected by the same sort of thing. There are laws against it.

I know of a well-known sacred site that is right in the middle of Tennant Creek. There is a fence around it and people know about it, but the experience is that none of those sorts of things happens there. Maybe it is because there is a high Indigenous population. It is right at the Julalikari Arts Centre, where tourists come in, have a cup of coffee and do those sorts of things. Perhaps it is not the perfect analogy because there are always people there but those sites, because people see and understand them, have never been desecrated.

Generally speaking, I think people are extremely respectful of our sacred sites. The way that you put the signage and manage the interaction are things that we have had a great deal of experience with in the Northern Territory. It is a criminal matter and very significant penalties apply under the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act, and those will still apply. In any event, we would place a lot of confidence in that process—it is sad that we would have to—because it works so well in other parts of the Northern Territory that have the same sorts of visits as any proposed visits to some of these communities.