Penny Wong accuses Liberals of cultural heritage ‘scare campaign’ as WA debate erupts in Federal Parliament

Labor has accused the Coalition of running a “scare campaign” over Aboriginal cultural heritage protection to fuel opposition to an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Government frontbencher Penny Wong levelled the claim as the debate which has dominated WA politics erupted in Canberra. The federal opposition used Federal Parliament on Tuesday to pressure Labor about its plans to beef up federal cultural protections in the wake of the Juukan Gorge disaster. The Coalition is pointing to the chaos surrounding the rollout of WA’s new cultural heritage laws – in particular the confusion it has created for farmers – to demand Labor rule out enacting similar legislation for the rest of the country. Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek this week confirmed the Government wasn’t planning to adopt, duplicate or override State-based heritage protections, effectively binning the most drastic proposals put forward in an “options paper” presented to the Government. Ms Plibersek on Tuesday said the Government wanted to update existing federal laws to ensure “we never see something like the destruction of Juukan Gorge again”. But the Coalition has continued to demand answers. Shadow Attorney-General and WA Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash used question time to challenge Labor to abandon its plans given the “shambolic and disastrous impact” of the WA regime on farmers, councils and environmental groups. Senator Wong - Labor’s leader in the Upper House - accused Senator Cash of using the cultural heritage debate to fuel her anti-Voice agenda. Liberals in WA have been drawing parallels between the two issues in recent months, arguing the confusion surrounding the State’s new system is a precursor to what an Indigenous Voice to Parliament would bring if the referendum was successful. “Anyone who’s been to Western Australia or talks to Western Australians will know that it is a political tactic because you (Senator Cash) don’t support the Voice,” Senator Wong said. “I’ve been around for a while and I think we all understand the scare tactics. Senator Cash is good at those.” Senator Cash pushed again, demanding Senator Wong guarantee the Federal Government wouldn’t replicate the WA model requiring owners of blocks greater than 1100sqm to undertake due diligence - and potentially stump up for surveys - before building on their land. Senator Wong reiterated that the Government wasn’t planning to adopt any of the State-based regimes – before again blasting Senator Cash for her “reprehensible” scare campaign. The Labor frontbencher also pointed out the process of overhauling federal cultural heritage legislation started under the former Morrison Government in 2021, after a Parliamentary inquiry into the Juukan disaster handed down a bipartisan report. She noted the “options paper” - which was developed as part of a partnership between the Government and First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance - was commissioned under then environment minister Sussan Ley. Senators across the political divide debated the issue again late on Tuesday afternoon. WA Liberal senator Slade Brockman said the Coalition supported protecting cultural heritage, but was vehemently opposed to “poorly thought through” legislation which would impact landowners’ rights. “We will fight against that every day,” he said. Greens First Nations spokeswoman Dorinda Cox said the cultural heritage debate invoked memories of the “fear mongering” which surrounded surrounded the introduction of the Native Title Act. “I’d like to think that we’d moved on from the dog-whistling but unfortunately we haven’t,” she said. “We haven’t matured as a country.”