The Western Australian parliament is introducing new Aboriginal cultural heritage laws in an effort to prevent tragedies such as the Juukan Gorge disaster last year, however indigenous legal experts are not satisfied with the legislation.
In May of 2020, the government went against wishes of the local traditional owners and granted permission to Rio Tinto to commence demolition in the state’s Pilbara region, leading to the destruction of sacred rock shelters over forty six thousand years old.
The new legislation will introduce an Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Council to provide strategic oversight for further development of Aboriginal land, however WA Greens Senator and Yamatji Noongar woman Dorinda Cox says the government is ignoring traditional owners’ concerns, and is calling for the council to be 100 per cent comprised of First Nations people.