Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of Senators Chisholm and Dodson, I move:

That the following matter be referred to the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia for inquiry and report by 30 September 2020:

The destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia with particular reference to:

(a) the operation of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 (WA) and approvals provided under the Act;

(b) the consultation that Rio Tinto engaged in prior to the destruction of the caves with Indigenous peoples;

(c) the sequence of events and decision-making process undertaken by Rio Tinto that led to the destruction;

(d) the loss or damage to the Traditional Owners, Puutu, Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people, from the destruction of the site;

(e) the heritage and preservation work that has been conducted at the site;

(f) the interaction, of state indigenous heritage regulations with Commonwealth laws;

(g) the effectiveness and adequacy of state and federal laws in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage in each of the Australian jurisdictions;

(h) how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage laws might be improved to guarantee the protection of culturally and historically significant sites;

  (i) opportunities to improve indigenous heritage protection through the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999; and

(j) any other related matters

Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

While the Greens won't be opposing this reference, we wish to express our deep concern that this has been referred to a committee that is purely dealing with northern Australia. My question is: does that mean that there are no Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and cultural issues that need to be dealt with in southern Australia? I also want to point out that this is a government dominated committee, and it's the very government that has not been carrying out its duties as it should be in terms of protecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and culture. So my question is: why is it being referred to a committee that's dominated by the government when they're the ones that are involved in the decision-making on the issue that is supposed to be being investigated?

Question agreed to.