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

I'd like to read from the Wati Council's statement on the West Australian Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Bill 2021 which was handed to Premier McGowan in Port Hedland.

'We, the law holders of the Pilbara, strongly reject the proposed changes to the draft Aboriginal heritage bill 2020, particularly the consultancy amendments. This act provides a false sense of security for First Nations people, under section 17, when it comes to blocking development on sacred sites. The proposed changes are unjust, flawed and disadvantageous in several aspects, and they will not save cultural sites. We, the First Nations people of the Pilbara, have no confidence in the draft act or the government who are proposing the enactment of this act.

'It is unclear how, in this process, First Nations people are being adequately consulted or given the chance to save sites that hold significant religious and cultural significance. This is a basic human right which the government continues to ignore: our basic human right to practise our culture and religion on sacred sites that have held significant meaning for thousands of years for First Nations people. We are entitled, under international laws, to input regarding our cultural sites. The traditional people or law holders of sacred places where there is proposed destruction or development planned should be consulted adequately, and the law should reflect that adequate consultation is necessary. The government's continued failure to consult with First Nations people to identify these sites—this failure to properly consult with Aboriginal landholders—has led to unnecessary destruction amounting to cultural genocide.

'Take note: the world is watching the West Australian government as they continue the oppression of our voices when it comes to destroying our sacred cultural sites.'