Heritage protection laws will be reformed to prevent another devastating incident like Rio Tinto’s destruction of the Juukan Gorge, as the Albanese government vows to make traditional owners “primary decision-makers” on projects on their ancestral land and boost federal powers to override state approvals.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s announcement follows a parliamentary inquiry into the destruction of two ancient Aboriginal rock shelters in Western Australia’s Juukan Gorge, which left traditional owners devastated and ignited global condemnation when they were blown up in 2020 to make way for an expansion of an iron ore mine.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek signs an agreement to co-deign new laws. Pictured with Patrick Dodson, Dr Heron Loban and Linda Burney (sitting) and Anthony Watson, Paul House and Jamie Lowe (standing).Credit:Rhett Wyman
“It is unthinkable that we would ever knowingly destroy Stonehenge … when the Bamiyan Buddhas were destroyed in Afghanistan, the world was rightly outraged. But that’s precisely what occurred at the Juukan Gorge,” Plibersek told federal parliament on Thursday as she announced the government’s response to the inquiry.
The Juukan Gorge rock shelters had evidence of continual human occupation tracing back at least 46,000 years. Their destruction was legally sanctioned under a since-changed WA law, but went against the wishes of the traditional owners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people (PKKP).
No deadline has been set to deliver the reforms, and Plibersek said they would be co-designed with First Nations people.
The government said it would consider the inquiry’s recommendation to shift responsibility for Aboriginal cultural heritage from the environment minister to the minister for Indigenous Australians.
PKKP representatives on Thursday said they were not properly consulted by the federal government before the government announced its response. A spokesperson for Plibersek said the minister’s office attempted to engage with PKKP on at least four occasions.
The existing protections for Aboriginal cultural heritage are being tested by an ongoing case in WA on the Burrup Peninsula, where Indigenous group Save our Songlines is campaigning to protect Murujuga, the site of 40,000-year-old rock art, from damage it says is being done by Woodside’s nearby gas-processing plants.
Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper said the same “weak laws” that allowed Juukan Gorge to be destroyed were permitting “similar destruction” to ancient rock art. Cooper is demanding Plibersek use her existing powers to step in and limit the plants’ emissions, which she said was eroding the rock art.
The Minerals Council of Australia said the destruction of Juukan Gorge “must never happen again” and since the tragedy, the industry had been “working hard to regain the confidence and trust of traditional custodians and their communities”.
Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm said since Juukan Gorge was blown up, the company had changed the way it engaged with Indigenous communities to protect cultural heritage.
“We acknowledge today’s announcement and will explore the government’s response to the report’s recommendations in detail,” he said.
The opposition’s Pat Conaghan said reform was “vital” and he welcomed Plibersek’s commitment that the new laws were not about stopping development or halting progress.
“Any work that is aimed at improving cultural heritage law should not be transformed into an exercise that demonises industry or imposes unacceptable risks to sensible sustainable economic development,” Conaghan said.
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