Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of the question that I asked today on the disastrous WA cultural heritage laws. No matter what Senator Wong said—as I said, I'm sure we all appreciated the lesson on the Australian Constitution rather than an answer to our question!—this is a humiliating backdown for the Labor Party. In Western Australia, it took just a month for them to realise that these laws were completely unworkable, disastrous and should never, ever have seen the light of day. Premier Cook should have listened much earlier and saved thousands of Western Australians, particularly our farmers, the anguish and the worry of the last few months.

But there is still a significant risk for farmers and local communities, with the Albanese Labor government proposing their own changes to cultural heritage laws at a federal level. Despite me asking the direct question, we didn't get a straight answer from Senator Wong. While she did say that there would be no Commonwealth overtaking of state and territory laws, she was not clear at all about what would actually be in the Labor cultural reform legislation. The federal Labor government has released an options paper for a national model but has been unable to give Australian farmers and private property owners more certainty about future reforms. Federal Labor should look very carefully at the chaos that state Labor caused not only our farmers but anyone who owned a piece of land over 1,000 square metres, over a hectare. It was completely disastrous.

The chaos that was caused in Western Australia is an absolute indication of what could happen if a Voice to Parliament is enshrined in our constitution. You can scrap a bad law, but you cannot change the Constitution once you have altered it. Let's remember exactly what the state government rammed through the parliament with pretty much no consultation. It was so bad. I'm very proud of my Liberal state and federal colleagues who fought so hard to bring to the public's attention both here in Canberra and in Western Australia the impacts of this legislation and the concerns of tens of thousands of Western Australians. In fact, a petition was launched by my state colleague the Hon. Neil Thomson MLC calling on the state government to halt and delay the act's implementation. He gained over 30,000 signatures. I believe that that is the most signatures obtained for any similar petition in Western Australia's history. With 30,000 signatures, not even the state Labor government, who are so full of hubris and do not like to consult not only with the parliament but also with Western Australians, could ignore this voice.

First of all, they were going to delay compliance penalties for a year in favour of an education-first policy approach. This so-called light touch did little to comfort the thousands of Western Australians that faced penalties of up to $1 million if they got it wrong. That includes putting a pool in their backyard or digging a large hole in the ground for a new tree. This is not just scaremongering; it was actually happening. Local councils in Western Australia were prevented from doing tree plantings and were seeking tens of thousands of dollars in compensation. Even the respected native title solicitor Greg McIntyre has said these laws are unworkable.

But I have absolutely no faith and no confidence, which is a feeling shared by everybody on this side of the chamber, that federally Labor will not seek to do exact exactly the same thing. Whilst Senator Wong did not answer my question directly about any contact the Prime Minister or possibly Minister Plibersek or their staff had with the WA Labor state government, the feeling in Western Australia is certainly that pressure was put on them so people don't get some idea of what will happen in a constitutionally enshrined Voice.