Labor senator, Pat Dodson, has blasted the Western Australian government for failing its one opportunity to protect Aboriginal heritage and stop the “tyranny of cultural genocide” after the state’s controversial new heritage bill was passed into law.
The new law, introduced after Rio Tinto destroyed a 46,000-year-old cultural site at Juukan Gorge, has drawn anger from Aboriginal traditional owners, shareholder groups and even federal MPs.
Under the new law, traditional owners do not have veto rights over the destruction of their sacred sites.
Western Australia’s Aboriginal affairs minister has the final say on all applications, and traditional owners have limited rights to judicial appeal.
Traditional owners, land councils and heritage groups say they first saw the bill the night before it was tabled in parliament, despite asking for almost a year.
The National Native Title Council condemned the new law as discriminatory and disputes the Western Australian government’s claim that it “embeds the principles of free, prior and informed consent.”
A Western Australian government spokesperson would not comment on the letter, but said the bill was “the most progressive cultural heritage legislation in the country” and will deliver better protection for Aboriginal cultural heritage.