Cook government to scrap Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act after months of controversy

The West Australian government will scrap its controversial Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Laws within days, the ABC understands.

Premier Roger Cook and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Tony Buti will make an announcement early next week.

It follows months of harsh criticism of the laws and the government in the lead up to their implementation on July 1 and in the weeks following.

The criticism has been lead by WA’s opposition parties — the Nationals and Liberals — along with farmers groups including WAFarmers and the Pastoralists and Graziers Association.

It’s understood the state will revert to operating under the 1972 Aboriginal Cultural Heritage legislation.

The new legislation came into force to ‘modernise’ the existing process, which saw major problems exposed in the wake of the destruction of Juukan Gorge.

The laws require some WA landowners to check for the presence of cultural heritage before conducting any activities that may compromise such sites.

Where a risk exists, landowners may need to seek permits or prepare management plans depending on the type of activity and the extent to which the land will be cleared or disturbed.

The government also made numerous exemptions for lower-level works that did not previously exist.

Tone shifts over laws

At the time, the legislation was moved through parliament quickly and the Opposition voted in favour, but say that was something they now have come to regret.

Key criticism of the act were that it was too confusing and unclear, that it would be too time consuming and too expensive for landowners to meet the requirements of it, and that it would be open to abuse.

For weeks the government has defended the act, but the tone of ministers has shifted more recently.

But members of the state and federal governments as recently as this week suggested criticism of the act by the Liberal Party amounted to scare mongering aimed at fostering divisions ahead of the referendum on the Voice.

WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam described the government’s potential backflip as a “great win for landowners”.

“We understand the Labor government will backflip on the Aboriginal cultural heritage act laws that they introduced earlier in the year,” Ms Mettam said.

“We’ve always committed to scrapping the cultural heritage act and going back to the drawing board.

“They were quite clearly an overreach on private property rights.

“They went way too far.

“And it was extraordinary how the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs was even unable to answer really basic questions about how this act would actually work.

“It has been shambolic from the start.”

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