The Pilbara’s Indigenous community reject proposed Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Bill at Yule River meeting

The Pilbara’s Indigenous community has rejected the proposed Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Bill and will again march on Parliament to voice their frustrations with the document. The decision was handed down at Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation’s Yule River bush meeting last week, following community outrage over laws that some claim would give traditional owners less power over native title. The revamped Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Bill is intended to strengthen protections for sacred sites and its progress has been supported at previous Yule River meetings. The original laws were written nearly 50 years ago and the updated Bill is expected to be introduced to Parliament later this year. YMAC Pilbara region deputy co-chairperson Doris Eaton said they wanted the Government to talk to Aboriginal people. The State Government has held consultations across regional WA over several years, but Mrs Eaton said the Aboriginal community felt they were not “at the table”. “It should be consulted with Aboriginal people, but the Government wrote it without us,” she said. “We want to write it with them. “We want to save our heritage for the future generations. Culture is slowly getting lost. We are not against mining. We want to be spoken to.” Aboriginal Affairs Minister Stephen Dawson last week said consultation was central to the foundation of the new Bill “Fundamentally, this legislation will ensure Aboriginal people can define and assert the significance of their cultural heritage and, with this authority, be able to negotiate agreements with miners and other land users,” he said. “Aboriginal people and key stakeholders will be closely engaged in the development and co-design of supporting policies, processes and guidelines.” Kariyarra woman Raylene Button said the Bill had been drafted “from the top down”. “We need to consult and, even with us coming here to this meeting, we’ve had to plan everything in order to get all the information and condense it into just two days,” she said. Mining and Pastoral Region MLC Neil Thomson said the concerns raised at the meeting were “palpable”. “The people here have asked for more time, more time to consult, more time to understand,” he said.