The state of Western Australia has announced that a law which came into force in early July to protect Aboriginal sites will be repealed because it is proving too complex to apply and divisive. The text had been voted on following a parliamentary inquiry stigmatizing the mining giant Rio Tinto, which had dynamited the Juukan Gorge cave, in order to extend the exploitation of an iron deposit.
The place is however considered sacred by the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) peoples, the cave containing some of the oldest artifacts in the country. Frenchman Jean-Sebastien Jacques, boss of Rio Tinto, and two senior executives had resigned while the Aboriginal community had called for a “overhaul” of mining.
“The Juukan Gorge tragedy was an embarrassment” with global repercussions, but the authorities’ response has “not been the right one”, acknowledged Roger Cook, the centre-left new Prime Minister of Western Australia, on Monday. head of government of Australia’s largest state.
He said the new law proved too complex and far from consensual: “We have gone too far, unintentionally causing stress, confusion and division” in the Australian national community, he acknowledged.
Two months after being sworn in following his predecessor’s resignation, Mr Cook said it was ‘obvious’ changes were needed. “The complicated regulations, the burden placed on landowners and the poor implementation of new laws have been unenforceable for all members of our community,” he further acknowledged, saying “sorry”
The government of this resource-rich state has announced a bill reinstating previous legislation, which had been in effect for 50 years. The future text will however require landowners to inform the government of anything that may concern Aboriginal sites, but they will not be required to carry out a heritage impact study themselves.
It will be up to the Australian state to study, over the next decade, the “high priority” areas that are still unexplored, with the consent of landowners. The government hadn’t found the right balance, what it did “didn’t work. It is essential that we manage cultural heritage with common sense, in order to be able to move forward together as a community”, further conceded Mr Cook.
