Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—on behalf of Senator Dodson I give notice, that on the next day of sitting, I shall move:

That the Senate—

(a) expresses strong concern about the destruction of the sacred Aboriginal heritage at Juukan Gorge by Rio Tinto;

(b) notes that the destruction of this cultural heritage is so significant that it has been criticised by the United Nations;

(c) notes that the destruction of this cultural heritage appears to have been legal;

(d) notes that the Government has confirmed that both the Minister for Indigenous Australians and the Minister for the Environment were contacted by representatives of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) Aboriginal Corporation seeking a stop to the destruction of their heritage;

(e) notes that the Government may have been able to stop the destruction under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984;and

(f) calls on the government to:

(i) explain why it did not take any action to stop the destruction of this cultural heritage at Juukan Gorge, and

(ii) urgently enact stronger protections of First Nations heritage to ensure this does not happen again.