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

I rise tonight to speak on the irreplaceable loss of Juukan Gorge rock shelters in the Pilbara of Western Australia. These were wilfully destroyed. On Sunday 24 May, at the beginning of reconciliation week, Rio Tinto blasted the Juukan Gorge rock shelters to smithereens. The rock shelters showed 46,000 years worth of continual occupation and provided a 4,000-year-old genetic link to today's traditional owners. The Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikurra peoples, the traditional owners of this land that was blasted, did not want this heritage destroyed, but now it is gone.

People around the world rightly condemned the destruction of ancient statues and sites by the Taliban and ISIS. What was blasted in the Pilbara in Western Australia is irreplaceable—46,000 years—and is rightly being condemned around the world. Rio Tinto knew the cultural significance of the site to the traditional owners. They even helped to make a documentary about it. They can't deny that this was wilful destruction of a heritage site. It is morally and ethically wrong. They did not have a social licence to do that.

It is not just Rio Tinto in my home state of Western Australia; unfortunately, we have a long and tragic issue and history of destroying First Nations cultural heritage in our country without the consent of the traditional owners. In fact, in Western Australia traditional owners, if they want to get some sort of compensation or payment, at a very early stage are being required to sign agreements which mean they cannot then complain. They are signing agreements before some of the archaeological work is done.

There are a whole host of mining companies in WA, including BHP and Fortescue Metals Group. Quite frankly, they are taking advantage of the Aboriginal Heritage Act, the archaic heritage legislation in Western Australia, which over the decades mining companies in Western Australia have directly influenced to make sure it is weak and have weakened it when they didn't get their way and if they thought that First Nations heritage and culture would stand in their way.

Today, of course, we heard that BHP was also granted permission. It's reported that, only days after the destruction wrought by Rio Tinto, they received permission to destroy between 40 and 70 significant First Nations sites in the central Pilbara. Fortunately, they have now called a halt to that potential destruction. I hope the next thing they do is pick up the phone to the traditional owners and say, 'Let's talk about which sites you want to make sure are protected.'

It is crystal clear that our state and federal laws are fundamentally flawed. They fundamentally fail to protect and preserve cultural and heritage values in Western Australia. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act has been a joke for years. My question is: why didn't the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in Western Australia take action? Why didn't the Minister for Indigenous Australians take action? Why didn't Minister Ley take action to stop this destruction? This has gone on too long. The clear message to mining companies is: you do not have a social licence to do this anymore. I say to state and federal governments: get your act together and fix these laws.