In an unprecedented move, Western Australia’s new Premier has announced the repeal of controversial Aboriginal cultural heritage laws designed to prevent a repeat of the Juukan Gorge demolition, that provoked international condemnation. The laws had only been operational for five weeks, but the Premier Roger Cook had come under intense pressure to act.
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00:00 Farmers left confused and frustrated by new cultural heritage laws marched on WA's parliament.
00:09 By the time they got there, the government had already scrapped them.
00:15 The state will now revert back to its 1972 Heritage Act,
00:19 with additional protections to give traditional owners more rights to appeal decisions.
00:25 We can reset, end all the confusion and importantly strike the right balance.
00:32 We can ensure Aboriginal cultural heritage is valued and protected.
00:37 And with simple amendments, we can deliver a common sense approach and prevent another incident like Dugan Gorge.
00:44 That incident was Rio Tinto's detonation of 46,000 year old caves,
00:49 which prompted the WA government to expedite its new heritage laws through parliament in the wake of global condemnation.
00:57 The traditional owners of that site say they've been blindsided.
01:01 The repeal of the Act and to go back to legislation that was deemed by just about everybody to be outdated and culturally inappropriate was just disgusting.
01:12 These farmers have had their voice heard in WA's state parliament and it's now reverberating around federal parliament in Canberra as well.
01:20 The opposition was quick to pounce on the backflip.
01:24 It was draconian, it was an overreach and it needed to be addressed.
01:27 Confusion over the legislation was seized upon by those against the Indigenous voice to parliament, conflating the two issues in the minds of voters.
01:36 It provided a little bit of confusion amongst WA and what it did allow for those people that were in the no camp to really try and use that as a reason as to why not to support a voice.
01:47 For some in the yes camp, the repeal of the laws now offers clear air as the race to the referendum continues.
01:55 [ Silence ]