Pilbara

Thursday, 2 July

Since the Barnett government came into office in 2008 at least 3,207 Aboriginal heritage sites have lost their registered status, according to a new report.

WA Greens spokesperson on Aboriginal Affairs Robin Chapple MLC said the report was extensive and revealed much more disturbing long-term trends about the assessment and protection of Aboriginal heritage sites.

“This is now about much, much more than the 37 sites deregistered on faulty advice from the State Solicitor’s Office (SSO) prior to the Robinson vs Fielding Supreme Court decision,” Mr Chapple said.

“What this report proves is that the Barnett government has all but abandoned its statutory responsibilities to protect Aboriginal heritage in Western Australia.

“Not only have more than 3,000 sites had their status, and hence protection, downgraded but since 2010 the Aboriginal Cultural Materials Committee (ACMC) has rejected 86% of new site submissions. Prior to 2010 that number was only 10%.

“What is most confusing about the data in the report however is the sheer number of site status changes – more than 14,000 – that occurred across this time period, often into new categories that were later removed.

“Under the Aboriginal Heritage Act the status of any site must be assessed by the ACMC. Given the ACMC monthly meetings have radically shortened under its new chair I find it very hard to believe that any of these status changes have been given proper consideration.

Mr Chapple said Aboriginal people across WA were deeply concerned about their heritage despite Department assurances that every action was undertaken with consultation.

“At the Department of Aboriginal Affairs estimates hearing last week I was assured that all informants (Traditional Owners) were told whenever a decision was made about a heritage site,” he said.

“Yet I’ve had a great many people contact me fearful about places that are significant to them and to their people; they’ve heard nothing.

“The government’s handling of Aboriginal Affairs since 2008 has been absolutely to the detriment of Aboriginal people. We are currently presiding under a government who will stop at nothing to open doors for industry and to refill its own severely depleted coffers.”

For comment please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.

Media liaison: Tim Oliver // 0431 9696 25          

Tuesday, 30 June

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Peter Collier has further confused the debate around remote community closures after commenting that the Kimberley and Pilbara regions were the government’s primary focus.

Mr Collier made the comments at a regional cabinet meeting held in Kalgoorlie over the weekend after being questioned by a Ngaanyatjarra elder.

WA Greens spokesperson for Aboriginal Affairs Robin Chapple MLC said comments such as these only added to the anxiety being felt by Aboriginal people living in remote communities throughout Western Australia.

“When will this government start to take the concerns of Aboriginal people seriously and tell the truth about their plans to close remote communities,” Mr Chapple.

“On one level we have the official line which is that no decisions about closing communities have been made, and won’t be made until proper consultation has taken place.

“Yet we continue to hear from various government representatives that some communities are known to be unsustainable, and now that only communities in certain regions will be targeted.

“I’m glad the Minister is not focused on closing communities in the Goldfields region, but what does that mean for people in the Pilbara and the Kimberley. They are only left further in the dark by this revelation.

“Furthermore, industry representatives have revealed the government has given them reassurances about remote communities that may fall within their jurisdictions. So why does this government insist on keeping Aboriginal people in the dark?

“As the WA Greens have said from the start, any policy concerning the provision of services to Aboriginal people living on country in remote areas needs to begin with a conversation and a willingness to actually listen.

“The Minister, his Department, the Government’s handling of this issue, and indeed the concept of closing remote communities at all, is absolutely deplorable.”

For comment please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.

Media liaison: Tim Oliver // 0431 9696 25          

Reports of roaming cattle flooding in from Kimberley

Tuesday, 9 June

There are almost daily reports of high cattle numbers on the Great Northern Highway between Broome and Derby, according to Greens member for the Mining and Pastoral Region Robin Chapple MLC.

“I was contacted just yesterday afternoon and alerted to an incident involving a learner driver just 80 kilometres out of Broome on Roebuck Plains Station,” Mr Chapple said.

“Photographic evidence confirms the incident involved a collision with roaming cattle, and I would be very surprised if nobody in that car was injured.

“This same contact told me they had counted 148 cattle on the Highway between Broome and Derby that afternoon, including 76 on Roebuck Plains Station alone.

“I find it very hard to believe that Western Australia is, as the Transport Minister has said, ‘leading the nation’ in keeping cattle of roads given the frightening reports that I receive from constituents on a weekly basis.

“Main Roads and the Department need to urgently reassess their commitment to animal mitigation because at the moment, it simply is not working and is only a matter of time before more lives are lost.“

For comment please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.

Media liaison: Tim Oliver // 0431 9696 25          

Thursday, 23 April

In a move labelled shocking and internationally embarrassing by the WA Greens, Minister Collier this week confirmed the Burrup Peninsula had been deregistered as an Indigenous sacred site based on advice given by the State Solicitor’s Office (SSO) regarding section 5(b) of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972.

Greens spokesperson for Aboriginal Affairs Robin Chapple MLC said it was deeply concerning to learn that one of Australia’s most significant heritage locations was no longer considered a sacred site.

“The Burrup Peninsula has the largest concentration of rock art in the world and is an extraordinary cultural landscape telling the story of ancient Aboriginal occupation over the past 30,000 years or more,” he said.

“Its significance is not lost on the international anthropological community or the federal government, both long term supporters of world heritage nomination for the Burrup Peninsula.

“Colin Barnett labelled it ‘the most significant heritage and anthropological site in Australia’ whilst in opposition yet his government continues to approve, and encourage, industrial development there.

“Blinded by greed, this government has shown time and again it has little respect for the importance of Indigenous culture or heritage.”

Mr Chapple, who has worked alongside the Friends of Australian Rock Art (FARA) as a tour guide on the Burrup Peninsula for almost 10 years, said the revelation was also a significant personal blow.

“I have dedicated the best part of my life to protecting the Burrup; this news has left me deeply ashamed,” he said.

 “It is without question one of the most important heritage locations in Australia and arguably the world; an ancient cultural and historical record of our nation’s first peoples.

“Irrelevant of the department’s interpretation of the heritage act, the Burrup Peninsula is a sacred site and deserves to be treated as such.”

For comment please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.

Media liaison: Tim Oliver           

Mobile: 0431 9696 25

Wednesday, 4 March

Environment Minister Albert Jacob’s overnight approval of the Kintyre Uranium mine proposal was wrong on every level and should be immediately rescinded, according to WA Greens Uranium Spokesperson Robin Chapple MLC.

Mr Chapple said it was an inappropriate given the Office of Regional Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) was still investigating allegations of corruption into the Western Desert Lands Aboriginal Corporation’s (WDLAC).

“The Minister should not have made any decision until the position of the Martu people, with regards to a Uranium mine on their lands, had been absolutely clarified,” he said.

“Instead what Mr Jacob has done is slip this through quietly overnight with complete disregard for the investigation, or the mountain of appeals he has received in opposition.”

Mr Chapple said aside from potential legal ramifications the Kintyre proposal was a major environmental threat to the region’s unique desert environment and lacked the bipartisan political or broader public support necessary to validate its approval.

“This is yet another example of our government’s throwing its weight behind a rapidly ageing industry that will lock WA into an unsustainable future,” he said.

“This proposal will directly threaten the Karlamilyi National Park, the Karlamilyi River water catchment and the many threatened native flora and fauna species that inhabit this unique desert environment.

“To top it off the minister has recommended there should be no rehabilitation bonds, a move that could see liability for the clean-up of this mine fall on the taxpayer and not the company behind the proposal.

“Cameco have an appalling environmental record and are soon to face court in the USA and Canada over allegations of tax avoidance, yet we want to trust them to mine this dangerous mineral in such a fragile part of our state.”

Mr Chapple said issues raised by environmental and Indigenous groups had fallen on deaf ears.

“Appeals submitted on the basis of threats to groundwater, radiological uptake by native flora, the lack of baseline studies and commitments to monitoring in key areas have been dismissed,” he said.

“If this proposal ever wants to see the light of day it needs to be taken right back to step one and properly assessed.”

For comment please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.

Media liaison: Tim Oliver           

Mobile: 0431 9696 25

Thursday, 26 February

Greens MLC for the Mining and Pastoral region Robin Chapple yesterday slammed the government’s 2015 Barrow Island management plan as largely not addressing the extent of the issues present nor accounting for the growth in size of the Gorgon project.

The environmental management plan lays out the government’s expectations relating to the island’s natural environment, cultural heritage and resources for the next 10 years.

Mr Chapple said the management plan offered nothing useful in the way of restoring what had already been damaged on Barrow Island but instead offered a method of simply managing the status quo.

“There is absolutely nothing new in this plan that wasn’t already a part of Gorgon’s original contract for the island,” he said.

“There has been a large expansion of the project – it is now 2 or 3 times the size it was intended to be – and this management plan fails to address any of the subsequent issues caused by this expansion.

“When Colin Barnett was opposition leader he said Gorgon should never have been allowed on Barrow Island and vowed to force them off should he become Premier.

“As is so often the case with our Premier he has neglected to follow through with this commitment, perhaps hoping the rest of us would just forget about the issue?”

Mr Chapple said Barrow Island was a poorly managed environmental disaster.

“Invasive species at critical levels, injured and threatened native species, loss of natural habitats due to concrete infrastructure, poorly managed quarantine – the list goes on,” he said.

“As the Gorgon project continues to expand so too will the threats to this pristine environment, in particularly the 24 species of endemic native flora and fauna.

“I believe the situation has reached a point where, once Gorgon has vacated the premises, it will take billions of dollars’ worth of reinvestment to return Barrow Island to the sensitive state it was in prior to the arrival of Chevron.”

For comment please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.

Media liaison: Tim Oliver     

Mobile: 0431 9696 25