MP Josh Wilson calls for better heritage laws as Joint Committee prepare to deliver inquiry into Juukan Gorge

Federal shadow assistant environment minister Josh Wilson has welcomed the reformation of WA’s Indigenous heritage protection laws and called for other States and Territories to follow suit ahead of the Juukan Gorge parliamentary inquiry report being handed down this month. During his visit to Karratha last week, Mr Wilson said the country had a failed protection framework when it came to Indigenous heritage. “Western Australia is rightly engaged in a reform process because its heritage laws are well overdue an update, I welcome that process, and other States need to get on and do the same,” he said. “Laying over that, you have proper Commonwealth protection for matters that are at that national heritage level and that needs the reform of the EPBC (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act), which the current Government has made a horrible mess of, and it also needs reform of the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act, which failed to protect Juukan Gorge. “We know that the traditional owners in that case sought intervention from the Federal Minister for Environment and they didn’t get that.” The destruction of the 46,000-year-old Juukan caves in the Hamersley Range on May 24 last year was approved by the State Government under the outdated Aboriginal heritage legislation. The rock shelters, sacred to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people, were destroyed as mining giant Rio Tinto chased higher grade ore. Mr Wilson said the inquiry report, once handed down, would need to be acted on with urgency. “We can’t really wait any longer because the longer we wait, the more likely it is that we’ll see something else similar,” he said. “I hope (the inquiry) will be a spur to Government action. “I hope it’ll make clear that you’ve got to have effective national-level protection and then you’ve also got to have the Commonwealth lead a process with the States that seeks to make those State and Territory-based protection frameworks of the highest possible best practice standard.” A spokesperson for Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley said the Minister had supported the establishment of the Juukan Gorge inquiry and would review its findings within the context of measures already taken. “Minster Ley has already commenced a national engagement process to review the protections for Indigenous cultural heritage and, with Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt, hosted the first meeting of State and Territory Ministers convened on this issue,” they said. In an opening statement to the joint committee, Rio Tinto chief executive Kellie Parker said they had enhanced their governance, risk and assurance processes and increased social performance capacity and capability to build stronger relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partners.