Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I also wish to take note of this ministerial statement and make a short statement. There's no amount of money that can restore what was destroyed at Juukan Gorge on 24 May 2020. No reparations will heal the anguish, the devastation and the loss inflicted on the PKKP traditional owners by the blasting of those rock shelters. I have familial links there and, before coming to work in this place, I had the pleasure of walking and working alongside them to discuss ways in which they can create opportunities for their elders and their young people. From health care to continuation of law practices, we collectively put our minds to work to improve the economic and social benefits for the PKKP people. I'm forever grateful to them for allowing me to share this experience, especially Uncle Burchell Hayes.

The PKKP mob come from an area that is 10,888 square kilometres, between Onslow and Tom Price in Western Australia. If you drive to the top of Mount Nameless, which is in fact its Western name, or Jarndunmunha, which is the Eastern Guruma name—meaning 'place of the rock wallabies'—you can get a wonderful view of the majestic Hammersley ranges.

The lack of legislative oversight at federal and state levels has resulted in the absolute destruction of tens of thousands of years of cultural heritage, and, since this monumental disaster, there's been little progress shown by any government to prevent Juukan 2.0 from occurring across this country. In fact, nearly every mining project has a cultural heritage tenor to it, particularly in my home state of Western Australia, which is the engine room of mining in this country.

Last week the environment minister, on behalf of the Australian government, tabled their response to the interim and final reports by the Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia on the destruction of Juukan Gorge—a committee I served on to deliver this final report and its recommendations, alongside an open letter that we wrote to the Premier of Western Australia about the WA cultural heritage legislation, which I nicknamed 'the mining enabling legislation', because there are plenty of loopholes in it.

Federal and state ministers, the Prime Minister, in fact, and other state premiers need to get out on country and visit some of the sacred places like Juukan Gorge. They need to listen to traditional owners to truly hear, see and feel the importance of these places, and to understand the link to our rich biodiversity and our totemic systems, our artefacts and our sacred sites. They are our museums and cathedrals, our artwork, our scientific knowledge and our cosmology, which is about our religion and our spirituality. Consultation cannot be a box-ticking exercise. There has to be genuine, meaningful and collaborative engagement. That is what is required.

Internationally, people were shocked and outraged by the actions of Rio Tinto. 'A national disgrace', 'A dark day in Australia's history', some of you in this place might recall, were some of the headlines that were touted. My colleague on the committee and fellow Western Australian Senator Dodson is quoted as having called 'incremental genocide' the mining company's behaviour in the lead-up to the destruction of the Juukan Gorge caves.

It's time for all Australians to see the destruction of Juukan Gorge by an ignorant mining company as a wake-up call, but, more importantly, for those who were in the opposition at the time to do what they said they would do. We will now see if, as a newly anointed government, they are up for the challenge. Australian cultural heritage sites, whether they are significant to First Nations people or to other cultures, deserve protection in this country. As the PKKP mob have said, 'The Juukan Gorge disaster is a tragedy not only for our people. It is also a tragedy for the heritage of all Australians and indeed humanity as a whole.'

Tourists all over the world visit Stonehenge, the pyramids of Egypt and ancient temples across the Asian continent, but it is here in Australia that the world's oldest surviving culture endures. It is in the dynamic, resources-rich landscapes that First Nations culture and tradition endures, uninterrupted for tens of thousands of years until one day a billionaire decides to blow it up, at the stroke of a pen. The federal and state governments of this country have failed to protect this profoundly important place at Juukan—with 46,000 years of continuous occupation, the sacred place of tradition and sharing of knowledge. Juukan was blown up just a few days before National Reconciliation Week, when elders were set to share their cultural teachings with the next generation. Traditional owners are given, through their birthright, the right to speak, protect and care for country.

I'd like to offer you an example of an intangible cultural heritage so some of you might actually understand or try to connect with my definition of what that means as a First Nations woman. When I gave birth to my daughters, I took the placentas and buried them on my mother's country because we are a matriarchal culture. I put them next to the olive tree on the old cottages site of the New Norcia Mission, where five generations of my ancestors lived during the time their children were placed in the care of missionaries. My family have practised this for generations, and, to my old people, this means that their cultural heritage will be preserved—and, as I teach my children the stories, the songlines, the trade routes and the legacy of this place, the importance of their connection. The two Dreaming tracks that are from this place link them to the ningarn, which is the echidna in the Noongar language, and the dwert, which is the dingo, and across the country. It gives them their responsibilities for protecting their totems.

Cultural heritage is more than native title rights. It is the knowledge that is passed to us through our stories and our oral teachings. I'm fortunate enough to have two black parents, who gave me this knowledge on both sides. Cultural heritage provides information about place, history, story, dance and our connection. It goes to the things which are environmental, cultural, spiritual and familial. This is the way we learn, and we teach our generations to have a reciprocal relationship with our boodjar, which is the Noongar name for earth. It comes from the word boodjarri, which means pregnant. We are born through her spiritual being, which is Mother Earth, to a place and a time that was created by our ancestors. Therefore, there is no manual or book that we hand over for those decisions about our land and our sea country or the transfer of title. We should retain the power to say no to industry and, in particular, to mining companies. This is why proponents and governments should not now, or ever, be able to make decisions about First Nations cultural heritage in this country.

I welcome and I agree with the environment minister's acknowledgement that state laws are too weak and that Juukan Gorge was not an isolated mistake. This was a result of a failing system a, a white colonial system that has failed First Nations people, and it will continue to fail us until something drastically changes. The federal and state government also continue to fail First Nations people until we have free, prior and informed consent, until we are considered equal partners in negotiations, and until we have truth-telling about the destruction. The people in this place must listen to the ways in which we fight every day to keep our culture alive, and its links to our heritage.

The recommendations of this report require these principles to be respected, and I will keep fighting and hold this government accountable to make sure that they are seen through. Today, it's been reported that the PKKP people, through their Aboriginal corporation, have reached an agreement with Rio Tinto on a legacy foundation that will deliver a social and economic program, which will include elements such as education and training opportunities, business development, capacity building and preservation of and advocacy for cultural heritage and land.

First Nations people are finding something enduringly positive in the greatest tragedy, as we always do, and the mechanism for our survival. But, without meaningful and lasting action, this won't be the last tragedy for First Nations cultural heritage, and we anxiously await the government's latest test, at Murajuga, to save our songlines and our rock art from destruction by another corporate entity that claims to be the friend of First Nations people.

I look forward to hearing about this government's approach in relation to legislative reform, to ensure there is accountability and transparency. The interim report, called Never again, and the final report, called A way forward, must ensure that the destruction of cultural heritage does, in fact, never happen again, and we do find a way forward. We need to make sure that the destruction of cultural heritage ensures the stopping of disenfranchisement and the dislocation of First Nations people from their country. Pivoting out of extractive mining into regenerative and renewable sources is a way for the future.