NATIVE TITLE COUNCIL LEADER CALLS FOR VOICE, TREATY IN WA FOLLOWING HERITAGE ACT FAILURE

BY GERARD MAZZA

National Native Title Council Chair Kado Muir has called for Voice and Treaty in Western Australia in the wake of the state government’s backflip on the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act.

On Tuesday, Premier Roger Cook announced the 2021 Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act would be revoked after only five weeks of operation, and 1972 heritage legislation would be reinstalled with amendments.

Mr Muir said the government should pursue further heritage reform and learn from its mistakes in failing to consult properly when designing the Act.

He said that establishing Voice and Treaty could allow Traditional Owners meaningful political representation.

“I think we need to try everything and anything,” Mr Muir said.

“The fact of the matter is politicians who are elected to represent us are sitting in Parliament and they are not representing Aboriginal people. They are representing other interests. Then we end up in a situation where laws are made about us, laws are made to regulate us, to regulate our culture, to regulate our land. We get no say in that. That’s what the Voice is about, at a Federal level.

“I think it might be high time for the state to looking at the process of having a Voice and a Treaty in Western Australia to make sure that our rights and interests are adequately recognised, the truth is told about the illegal settlement of Western Australia, and [we can] rebalance this relationship which has been given a real hammering over the past few years.”

On Tuesday, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Tony Butti said the 1972 heritage legislation would be restored with an amendment that would allow Traditional Owners to appeal ‘Section 18’ decisions made by the Aboriginal Affairs Minister to allow heritage sites to be impacted.

"The Section 18 process will be strengthened – with these changes mainly impacting miners and government, whose work most impacts cultural heritage,” Mr Butti said.

"As Aboriginal Affairs Minister, it is pleasing that our amendments to Section 18 provide Traditional Owners with the same rights of appeal as those afforded to proponents.”

Kado Muir said this was not enough, and Traditional Owners would prefer “no Section 18s without our agreement.”

“Just getting a stool at the table to tinker with [Ministerial] consent to destroy our heritage sites - this is what we’re trying to get away from. We’re trying to get away from legal destruction of our heritage sites.”

Listen to the full interview with Kado Muir: