Premier Roger Cook ‘satisfied’ with Aboriginal heritage amendment, admits process to get to bill ‘not ideal’

Disastrous Aboriginal Cultural Heritage laws, which the Government announced it would scrap just one month after they took effect, will finally be repealed on Wednesday. The 2021 law took effect in July and prompted a flood of anger from farmers who found them too complicated and onerous. Aboriginal bodies tasked will assessing heritage under the new law also criticised it and said they were unprepared. The bill to repeal the act was passed last month and replaced with amendments to the 1972 Aboriginal heritage law that will give traditional owners the right to appeal a decision to damage cultural heritage. Ahead of the repeal and amendment bill coming being proclaimed Wednesday, Premier Roger Cook told media on Tuesday he was “satisfied” that the “simple and effective” amendments would ensure “ongoing protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage”. “Obviously, the circumstances that led to that weren’t ideal,” Mr Cook admitted. “But we continue to work with all stakeholders to make sure that we can protect Aboriginal cultural heritage, but not put an unnecessary break on economic and other activities.” Mr Cook said the changes to the 1972 law created an “important opportunity” for the State Government to work in communities with Aboriginal groups and to be a more “proactive partner” in educating the community on Aboriginal heritage. Opposition leader Shane Love said the move came after four months of the “tired and arrogant” Government saying the repeal was imminent. “When the questions were raised early, the Opposition was labelled everything from ‘racist’ to ‘dogs returning to their vomit’ and told to get on the right side of history. Today, history gets a fresh coat of truth,” Mr Love said. “Labor expected Western Australia to get on board with their agenda, but as it turns out, you cannot label people as racist when they haven’t been consulted and expect them to roll over.” Mr Love said November 15 would be remembered as the day the Cook Government “finally admitted they were on the wrong side of history”. “Persistence pays off, and so does setting the record straight,” he said. Changes to the 1972 law will also include a requirement for landusers who discover Aboriginal heritage after receiving a Section 18 approval to notify the Government — a change the Premier has said would have stopped Rio Tinto’s destruction of Juukan Gorge in 2020.