Greens Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region, Robin Chapple MLC, has called on the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Peter Collier to withdraw the Aboriginal Heritage Amendment Bill.
“These proposed changes remove any kind of community involvement in the protection of Aboriginal heritage sites and concentrate all power over these matters into the hands of one public servant, Mr Chapple explained.
“The Minister needs to scrap this outrageous piece of legislation and enter into proper negotiations to ensure there is community involvement in the protection of Aboriginal heritage sites.
“There has been enough community backlash for the Minister to see people are vehemently opposed to this bill.
“If the Minister is true to his word and wants to design legislation that protects our unique Aboriginal heritage, then it is back to the drawing board he must go.
“The Greens are the only Party standing up for Aboriginal heritage and I urge the community to write a submission on this appalling piece of legislation to the Department of Aboriginal Affairs before 6 August 2014, added Mr Chapple.
Greens Member of Parliament Robin Chapple MLC said he is deeply concerned about the outcomes of the WA Stolen Wages Repatriation Scheme and that the government must investigate the establishment of a new Scheme to address unresolved issues.
Mr Chapple will today at 3pm present to the Legislative Council a petition from concerned members of the community who are seeking answers to these issues.
“The WA Government is very good at paying lip service to the needs of Aboriginal people but puts its head firmly in the sand when it comes time to follow through with practical assistance,” Mr Chapple said.
“I believe an inquiry into the Scheme that was open from 6 March to 30 November 2012, is absolutely vital in order to see if the Scheme related to the experiences and expectations of Aboriginal people.
“There are doubts over whether the Scheme was adequately promoted, and if the operation and outcomes achieved justice and resolution.
“I fully support the Kimberley Community Legal Service in its efforts to seek justice for Aboriginal people who had their wages withheld and call on the Barnett government, which claims to strive to work towards reconciliation, to review the operation and outcomes of the Scheme.
“It is unforgiveable for the Barnett government to acknowledge that previous discriminatory legislation has led to considerable disadvantage and disharmony for Aboriginal people, but then to only share a few measly crumbs from their table.
For more information please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255
Greens Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region Robin Chapple MLC has labelled the proposed Aboriginal Heritage Amendment Act 2014 as the most diabolical piece of racist legislation in modern times.
The Department of Aboriginal Affairs has claimed the amendments will implement better rules to protect heritage sites, cut red tape and, most significantly, “empower Aboriginal people”.
But Mr Chapple said the amendments remove any kind of community involvement in the protection of Aboriginal heritage sites and concentrate all power over these matters into the hands of one public servant.
“It’s an unmitigated disaster for Aboriginal heritage,” he said.
“The current Chief Executive Officer, has been made all powerful."
Mr Chapple said the amendments also made significant, and disturbing, changes to the function and power of the Aboriginal Cultural Materials Committee (ACMC).
“Every instance of the word ‘committee’ in the old legislation, in reference to the ACMC, has been replaced with the word CEO,” he said.
“They’ve also removed the requirement for at least one member to have Anthropological expertise in the area of Aboriginal heritage.
“I’ve been pushing the government about the lack of specialists on the committee for years and now that requirement has been scrapped, with the ACMC existing only on a consultative basis at the whim of the CEO.
“The deciding force for whether or not an Aboriginal site is approved or listed on the Aboriginal Sites and Objects register now lies solely with the ‘opinion’ and ‘initiative’ of the CEO.
“There is no community consultation, no one with special knowledge of Indigenous issues or heritage, no one of Aboriginal descent involved whatsoever and essentially, no real protection for anything of Aboriginal cultural value in our state.
The State Administrative Tribunal has been given the power to review a decision but only at the request of a proponent, an Aboriginal person cannot ask for a review or appeal a decision.
This in my view breaches the fundamentals of the Racial Discrimination Act. An appalling piece of legislation,” said Mr Chapple.
