Wedge tactics by WA government to water down Aboriginal Heritage Act

Gerry Georgatos
The West Australian government will attempt to water down the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 to make it easier for government and big business to secure the "assessments they want" of Aboriginal historical and cultural sites.

Aboriginal Elders and advocates have spoken about their fears that the only intention of this move by the state government is to keep on building assimilationist policies, to railroad Aboriginal folk and in effect extinguish customary and historical rights to the benefit or miners, big business and state and local government projects.

Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC) anthropologist Phil Davies said that he and others within YAC had also heard what The National Indigenous Times has been told by a parliamentary source, that the state government will work over the Aboriginal Heritage Act so it befits purely the self-interests of state government and interest groups such as mining companies.

Mr Davies said, "It's ironic that they are doing this because as it is all power is pretty much in the hands of the Indigenous Affairs minister, Peter Collier, and the department of Indigenous Affairs (DIC) does whatever it wants."

"However we have heard that they want to smash the Heritage Act further and which we understand when done will wipe out more than 90% of Aboriginal cultural sites. This is more than disturbing, it's criminal."

"The way the Act has been misused nevertheless is beyond a joke, and DIA and the state government listen to whomever they want to, and similarly mining companies for instance shop around for whom they want in terms of assessments - it's DIA who are a poor balance and check. They just don't care about Aboriginal history and the rights of Aboriginal peoples. They're a sham."

Broome-based Nikyina rights advocate Sofia Mirniyinna said, "The Act is not the problem, the government is the problem, and with what happened at James Price, the Kimberley, with the Yindjibarndi and FMG and with local shires and land development use, and recently with that stupid Native Title proposal to the Nyoongars well they don't want anymore lip and costly delays to their agendas. The solution is remove government from the process, they should not have a role in the independent assessment of these matters."

"Think about it - Liberal, Labor, Greens have different agendas, you make them government and they run to their objectives. If you want the Aboriginal Heritage Act complied with and people to do the integrity thing then demarcate these assessments through an independent body and not Peter Collier's department of Indigenous Affairs. Parliamentarians are not devoid of their prejudices and they do live clearly within or in proximity to the rich and in a culture of favour dispensation. It's they who have ruined Native Title and the Aboriginal Heritage Act," said Ms Mirniyinna.

Well respected Nyoongar Elder Ben Taylor said, "It's always a situation of our backs against the wall, while the government continues to try to divide us, and continues to let those of us who don't agree with them languish in despair. Many of our people continue to live poor, die young."

Former president of the Kimberley Land Council, and Nyoongar Elder, Darryl Kickett, "There is a concerted effort against our sovereignty rights, and well we are now preparing to challenge the state government, and in respect to what they did at Heirisson Island, in the courts. We are working closely with lawyer Mark McMurtrie, who is a specialist in understanding sovereignty."

The West Australian newspaper's front page headline for the weekend of March 31 and April 1 was "Nyoongar heritage 'open to rorting'" - Several days earlier, The National Indigenous Times was told by a state parliamentary source that the state government, through its Indigenous Affairs minister Peter Collier, and the department of Indigenous Affairs, and through the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC) chief executive officer Glen Kelly, would soon push for changes to the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972, and to undermine any groundswell of support for Nyoongar dissenters to the Native Title offer from the state government to the SWALSC.

Though the mainstream news media has generally portrayed only the dissent against Nyoongar Tent Embassy, the government is well aware that their handling of the Embassy, and their heavy handed tactics on what appear "marginalised citizens has not gone down well with voters", said the source.

The state elections are in March 2013.

The article in The West Australian was not solicited by the government, and this was confirmed by the respected Walkley winning journalist who wrote it, Colleen Egan. However, the National Indigenous Times is aware of the push by the state government, while they have both the state opposition (Labor) and the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC) on side in "tightening up" the Act to "better controlling assessment outcomes of Aboriginal historical and cultural sites".

There are a number of disputes before the department of Indigenous Affairs in relation to various sites throughout WA and some are holding up land use development and expansionist projects, said the source.

Ms Egan opened the article with, "The system of Nyoongar heritage clearances - which costs taxpayers and business millions of dollars a year - is mired in bureaucracy and open to rorts, the state government conceded yesterday."

"Senior government officials claim that some Indigenous groups are being paid 'go away money' to give cultural clearance for developments and maintenance work in Perth."

The source to The National Indigenous Times said, "The government is under a lot of pressure from miners and big business to make 'assessments' easier and one proposal includes a register of those eligible to provide 'assessments'."

Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC) CEO, Michael Woodley said, "In effect everything with the Aboriginal Heritage Act is geared in favour of any organisation with huge financial resources, and it is not protective of cultural, historical and customary rights. Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) is paying its way to an outcome - there should be protections from this, not making the road for such companies easier. We already have a David verse Goliath battle with them as it is."

The source said, "Colin and Peter will sell their message for the necessity of the proposal to be signed off as done deal so to avoid rorts and that business can be fluid and they are going to tap into the emotive arguments that the taxpayer is being rorted, business is being rorted, and tap into the discrimination bit, that not even Nyoongars, or whomever, should be privileged over others."

The source said, "The purpose of this campaign in as much as it is to tighten up the (Aboriginal) Heritage Act in the narrow interests of government, at the expense of cultural sites which most of government couldn't give two hoots about, is really to crush this embarassing situation with the Nyoongar dissenters at Heirisson, and that such events don't have the extra oxygen for them to recur. Colin is very upset at the damage it may have done to the government in terms of the voter - in how they (mis)handled it."

The government described to The West unsubstantiated concerns and "told that payments of thousands of dollars have been made to ensure projects are not held up in the approvals process...". However, during the last six months The National Indigenous Times has described the plight of the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC) with Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) using the Heritage Process to undermine the historical and cultural claims of the Yindjibarndi, as alleged by YAC CEO Michael Woodley.

Mr Collier said to The West Australian he "was aware that inappropriate payments had been made to 'mavericks' who were taking advantage of the Aboriginal Heritage Act, which requires surveys to be done on areas that may be of cultural signficance." The source said, "Peter and Colin would never put out an example of FMG and Andrew Forrest even though we know they can use whomever as anthropologists and surveyors, and will keep on paying till they get the right person, however the example you'll get is the other way around, not of Aborigines being ripped off but of Aborigines with their finger in the cream pie..."

Mr Woodley has long accused FMG of employing 'experts' friendly to the company in their assessment of cultural sites such as those within proximity of the Solomon Firetails mines.

The source said, "Peter, Colin and Glen will use scare mongering in a concerted effort to get the (Native Title) deal through and will try to make the Aboriginal Heritage Act as overkill in that the whole of Perth, the Swan River and much of the south west are in some way registered through Act and in that way forever at odds with progress."

The source said, "...but the crux will be a fear campaign of widespread rorting."

Mr Collier said, "There has definitely been rorting."

"There have definitely been situations where the purported sites have not been legitimate but it's easier for the developers or the proponents for the development to take the easier way out." In the article it was alleged of Mr Collier that he was aware of 'rumours' that government departments had made large payments but he could not 'confirm them.' As a minister he has the fidicuary obligation to investigate.

Mr Collier degenerated to wedge tactics, "It is a shame because most Aboriginal people have a genuine desire for their heritage to be preserved but unfortunately you have a few mavericks coming in who see it as a process for financial gain... They're well aware that the mavericks are rorting the system and they resent that fact."

Nyoongar Traditional Owner and university academic Associate Professor Len Collard, "Wedge tactics, turning people against people, and it's discrimination because in the end no system is perfect and human nature is what it is, with stuff happening in every society, every culture, so to say it may happen more in Aboriginal communities is not on and it's discrimination to rumour monger this."

"In the end we do need to fix the Act however only in terms of who can speak for their peoples and who cannot but let us not get caught up that the government should have a role in this, as it is now all discretion is with them, so they've failed. And who is SWALSC to claim they can do it, they are already giving Welcome to Country to Nyoongars who have no authority to speak as Wadjuk or Koreng Nyoongars, and let us not forget SWALSC has sold out Wadjemup (Rottnest Island). The only people who should speak for their people or do the heritage assessments are those with connection according to Nyoongar laws, and not by the modern phenomena of claim through a distant maternal relative or those who claim they can speak for Yamatji, Nyoongar and Wongi at the same time because they can claim some distant connection, this is not how it works. Let us get it right however at all times out of the hands of government which only corrupts the process," said Assoc Professor Collard.

Broome-based Nikyina rights advocate, Sofia Mirniyinna said, "There is an agenda here, clear as the light of day, that is to further disempower Aboriginal peoples while rubbishing them at the same time and to do it while the iron is hot with the way the media has portrayed Nyoongar Tent Embassy. So much for the government's and SWALSC's claims that they respect customary rights! Sounds like SWALSC will walk away with more agency from anything to come while their Elders are wiped out. However, it'll be a similar story state-wide with all our clans if the Act is amended to meet the government's seeming objectives."

Mr Collier said the government 'was moving to clean up' the problems with changes to the Act, and in making sure the Native Title deal to SWALSC went through.

SWALSC CEO Glen Kelly said to The West Australian, "We get many complaints from business, industry and government about this issue but mostly it's out of our control and has been done quite independently of us."

He continued, "People feel like they're being held to ransom and pay a number of people cash money for clearances for what they feel is not about heritage, it's just about be-quiet money."

Ms Egan wrote, "Mr Kelly believed some of the opposition to the Native Title offer was fuelled by people who they would lose money from heritage clearances to SWALSC, whch also undertakes heritage work."

The source said, "We know most of the Nyoongar Tent Embassy are not the types making money from heritage assessments or from Welcomes to Country but the scare tactics of rorts and money to be made get swallowed, it works unfortunately."

Mr Kelly said that he hoped a system of protocols between SWALSC and the government would assist Nyoongars. The director of operations at the department of Indigenous Affairs, Duncan Ord, added his weight with a swathe of sweeping and unsubstantiated statements, "Industry does not have faith because of these behaviours, the government is concerned about what its been told is the truth and many Aboriginal people don't have faith in the system either." Mr Ord's assessment could be of concern to the YAC's Mr Woodley, and it could provide legal merit for an injunction against DIC handling any assessments of submissions such as those from FMG and YAC over Yindjibarndi cultural sites.

Mr Ord said the 1972 legislation was out of date and "was not based on the Native Title principle of connection to the land and had allowed individuals to become the 'go-to people' on heritage matters without being validated."

University of WA law student and Nyoongar Tent Embassy spokeswoman, Marianne Mackay, "We have to speak for ourselves, there is no one in state government or in the opposition prepared to support the sovereign rights of Nyoongars or any of our Aboriginal people. The Aboriginal Heritage Act is as a weak as, and weakening it further is simply another attack on our sovereign rights. It's tough times for Aboriginal peoples in the backwater of racism that is WA, but we're standing up to the oppression, and we're meeting with the legal experts."

Article in The West Australian the weekend of March 31/April 1
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/13310814/noongar-heritage-open-t...

Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 - Department of Indigenous Affairs
http://www.dia.wa.gov.au/en/Section-18-Applications/Heritage-management/...