A bill introduced to State parliament yesterday provides three key improvements to the 1972 Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act, according to the State's Aboriginal Affairs Minister Tony Buti.
Following the government's spectacular backflip to repeal the 2021 Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act, which was only five weeks in, Mr Buti said the changes proposed by Labor through the Aboriginal Heritage Legislation Amendment and Repeal Bill 2023 had been designed to enhance the act's processes and help prevent another Juukan Gorge incident.
The new amendments were created to ensure traditional owners can relay new and important information about Aboriginal cultural heritage to the minister as needed.
In explaining the proposed amendments, Mr Buti said the first key change to the old legislation extended the right of review of a section 18 decision to a native title party in relation to the land where an Aboriginal site, that may be affected by the decision, is located.
"Section 18(5) of the 1972 act currently provides that a landowner aggrieved by the minister's consent decision may apply to the State Administrative Tribunal for a review of that decision," Mr Buti said.
"This bill extends that right of review to native title parties, as defined, whose land might be impacted by a consent decision."
Mr Buti said the second key change proposed by Labor built upon 2021 amendments to the 1972 act which "require a landowner to notify the minister if the owner becomes aware of any new information about any Aboriginal site in relation to the land that is the subject of a section 18 consent".
"This requirement was introduced in 2021 to apply to new section 18 consents while we transitioned from the 1972 act to the 2021 act, and it is important to retain it going forward," Mr Buti said.
"That amendment has been strengthened to apply to all section 18 approvals, irrespective of when they were granted, where new information now comes to light."
Mr Buti said a landowner who has a section 18 consent will be required to notify the minister of that new information, and the minister will also be able to consider new information provided from other sources.
The third key change to the legislation makes void "any provision in a contract or agreement that prohibits a native title party from seeking to be heard in relation to an application for a section 18 consent, including making submissions or exercising any right to review or to commence proceedings".
This amendment was created mainly in response to the Juukan Gorge disaster, in which Rio Tinto destroyed rock shelters of exceptional significance near the company's Brockman mine in the Pilbara in May, 2020.
The disaster was a result of a gag clause Rio Tinto had put in its land use contract which prohibited the Puutu Kunti Kurrama peoples (the traditional owners of the land on which the company operates) from raising any heritage issue for a specific period of time.
The establishment of a 'Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Committee', which maintains the membership of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Council, created under the repealed 2021 act, has also been proposed by the government.
Mr Buti said the committee would act as a key body that provides advice and recommendations to the Aboriginal Affairs Minister.
While the Labor government has been criticised for rushing the 2021 Aboriginal Cultural Heritage (ACH) Act through parliament and guillotining debate in the lower house, Premier Roger Cook said the repeal bill would not be declared as urgent.
"We will put these laws into parliament as soon as possible and they will make their way through parliament in the appropriate time limits," Mr Cook said earlier this week.
Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Mr Buti said it would be up to the opposition as to how long they wished to debate the repeal bill.
He said a recently announced government campaign to inform Western Australians of the changes to the State's Aboriginal cultural heritage laws had not yet been costed.
