Dr WOODRUFF – Minister, the western Tasmanian Aboriginal cultural landscape is globally significant and formally protected by the Commonwealth government. The Federal Court ordered your government to do an assessment before there could be any discussion of reopening four-wheel drive tracks and that found there was no meaningful way of protecting Aboriginal heritage, which contains shell middens, depressions, rock art and and burial sites and is special and enormously precious.
Despite that, your government has still put again $10 million in a very resource-scarce budget towards four-wheel drive tracks in that area but there hasn’t been an assessment of the Arthur Pieman Conservation Area for over 20 years. Will you commit to doing an updated assessment of the management of the APCA before any consideration of anything else happening in that landscape?
Mrs ARCHER – It possibly sits across another portfolio area as well, Dr Woodruff, but I might ask the secretary to comment. ]
Mr JACOBI – I would suggest, Dr Woodruff, you refer that to minister Duigan in output group 4 in Parks. Minister Duigan would be specifically responsible for commissioning any studies, particularly in relation to four-wheel drive access. I can confirm, though, that as part of the $10 million commitment and the four-wheel drive access strategy any works that are commenced, whether maintenance, rebuilding of existing tracks or protection of Aboriginal heritage, would be subject to an Aboriginal heritage assessment process.
Dr WOODRUFF – Thank you. That gets us back to the woefully inadequate Aboriginal Heritage Act. This is an immediate threat from the government to irreplaceable Aboriginal heritage. It might be that you’re not responsible for the management of parks, but you are responsible for the protection of Aboriginal heritage. Will you step in, if required, to make sure there is no move towards anything happening in that area until and unless there is a proper Aboriginal Heritage Act to do an assessment?
Mrs ARCHER – We have to work with the legislation that we have, obviously, in relation to assessment of these issues, but, as I have said and as you know, we are committed to progressing Aboriginal heritage legislation reform next year and we will have that draft legislation out by March next year.
I don’t know if you want to make any further comments.
Mr JACOBI – Through you, minister, just to confirm that one of the key principles of the access strategy ‑ the four‑wheel drive access strategy, was that there would be no new tracks. So, one of the key principles that we adopted from the very beginning was no new tracks in the APCA. We would only be focused on the existing tracks and the maintenance and protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage on those tracks that already exist – inconsistent with the 2013‑14 sustainable access strategy that was drafted and developed for the whole of the outcome.
Dr WOODRUFF – Thank you. Well, your government might have said no new tracks, but you’re not on the record as saying no new facilities and there are facilities proposed as part of this four‑wheel driving track that would irreplaceably damage the areas there before any assessment has been done or consultation made with the Aboriginal community. Will you make sure that there is no new anything that happens in the APCA until there’s been that assessment done?
Mrs ARCHER – They will be assessed in accordance with the existing legislation, but in relation to any particular plans that there may be for that area, I would suggest that you raise those issues with Mr Duigan.
Dr WOODRUFF – What about the progress of that legislation? It seems to the Aboriginal community as though it’s being deliberately delayed so that developments can continue to be assessed. Your own Aboriginal Heritage Committee was strongly opposed to the strategy for the off‑road, four‑wheel drive vehicles. Strongly opposed to it. Where is their voice?
Mrs ARCHER – I can certainly assure you that I have prioritised this heritage legislation since coming to this portfolio, which is a brief amount of time. That still needs to undertake, an appropriate process to develop that legislation, including consulting, obviously, with the Aboriginal community, which is what we intend to do.
As I’ve said, we were very heartened, and I was very heartened to see the unanimous support for Mr Garland’s motion putting some timelines around that and we will initiate pre‑consultation with the community before Christmas with new legislation being out for draft consultation in March.
Did you have any further comments?
Mr JACOBI – No.
Dr WOODRUFF – Minister, just back on those proposed four‑wheel drive tracks over ancient Aboriginal cultural landscapes, do you personally acknowledge, understand, believe in cultural landscapes and what they mean to Aboriginal people?
Mrs ARCHER – Yes.
Dr WOODRUFF – I’m trying to understand the discordance between what the Aboriginal heritage advisory committee is saying on one hand and what other departments in the Liberal government are doing on the other, and there’s an extreme difference. Their position statement on the West Coast Off-Road Vehicle Strategy is that the Aboriginal heritage advisory council had serious concerns regarding the strategy and it is not only disappointed but highly critical of the strategy for prioritising off-road driving over the protection of irreplaceable Aboriginal cultural heritage, known as outstanding universal values not found in any other place on Earth. It also went on to condemn the disproportionate funding that favoured off-road driving infrastructure over Aboriginal heritage and landscape protection, and called for a serious investment into sustaining cultural values. Can you explain to me what is going on? How do you sustain those very strong views and the actions of other agencies in going ahead with wanting to have a four-wheel drive strategy up there? What are you going to do about it?
Mrs ARCHER – I can’t speak to other agencies and, as I’ve said, I would encourage you to direct your specific questions around the four-wheel drives to Mr Duigan. In relation to the protection of Aboriginal heritage, including cultural landscapes, I would refer to the commentary I’ve already made around the design of a new Aboriginal Heritage Act, and it is certainly my wish and hope that that will also incorporate cultural landscapes.
Dr WOODRUFF – Okay, thank you. You are the voice in Cabinet for Aboriginal people, heritage and cultural heritage protection. Will you be a strong voice in that space, condemning going ahead with a four-wheel drive strategy in that incredible area in north-west Tasmania, when there isn’t cultural heritage legislation to protect it, which there isn’t at the moment?
Mrs ARCHER – I think I’ve been pretty clear about my strong commitment to this area, including progressing a new and long overdue Aboriginal Heritage Act. I’ve stated that several times. I will continue to be that strong voice and maintain my commitment to Aboriginal heritage, but any questions in relation to other portfolios need to be directed to other portfolio ministers.
Dr WOODRUFF – Okay, I hear that. Unfortunately, if there was to be any progress in this area it would be forcing the Aboriginal community to go back to the federal courts to protect globally significant heritage, which they’ve had to do against the Liberal government one time before. That would be incredibly divisive, expensive, resource-intensive and painful. Do you agree that must be avoided at all costs?
Mrs ARCHER – I am committed to continuing to listen closely to Aboriginal communities and Aboriginal people in Tasmania and to progress new Aboriginal heritage legislation here in Tasmania.
Dr WOODRUFF – Minister, there are far too many examples of extreme destruction of Aboriginal heritage that are occurring right now or have occurred. The Tasmanian Aboriginal Heritage Council has made very strong statements opposing particular developments going ahead because of that. What is the role and the point of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Heritage Council, if they again and again make statements about the APCA, about Pilitika/Robbins Island, Mary Ann’s Island. What’s the point of the council? How do you square that away with protection of Aboriginal heritage and not listening to that group?
Mrs ARCHER – I think that the role of the council is critically important, and actually, what we want to do is to strengthen the role of the council. I might ask Louise to make a few more comments ‑ as we move towards a new Aboriginal heritage act, looking at a different way of doing that, acknowledging the important role of the Aboriginal Heritage Council and the challenge they have in undertaking that work as well. Louise, if you want to make some more specific comments.
Ms WILSON – Through you. The new Aboriginal cultural heritage protection bill that we are currently drafting, and will release by March next year, includes some strong provisions around decision making in relation to allowing impacts to Aboriginal heritage. The primary decision‑maker under the act will be the Aboriginal Heritage Council. That is very different to the current act, where the Aboriginal Heritage Council is merely an advisory. It’s statutory, which is stronger than it has been 10 years ago, but it’s still an advisory council. The majority of decisions made under the new bill, or act when it’s enacted, will be made by the Aboriginal Heritage Council.
Dr WOODRUFF – Through you, minister, or to you, minister. Are you proposing that the act is also going to protect Aboriginal heritage from your own colleagues ‑ ministers heading other departments who are continuing, despite the advice of the Aboriginal Heritage Council about damage to Aboriginal culture? Like, you talked about Closing the Gap and having across‑government agencies. Are you expecting that this new legislation will mean that government policy will need to be assessed prior to going ahead under this new act?
Mrs ARCHER – It is my very strong intention to have an act that – and I think everyone agrees it’s long overdue ‑ that we have an updated act that both works to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage and also provides clear understanding and clear guidance to people about how to do that as well. I believe that’s very, very important. Yes, certainly the intention is to strengthen and modernise the Aboriginal Heritage Act, of course, with the aim of protecting Aboriginal heritage.
Dr WOODRUFF – Thank you. With regard to enforcement and penalties, the prominent businessman Graeme Elphinstone was found guilty last Friday of knowingly damaging ancient heritage on his property. Mary Ann’s Island Golf Course was in the Magistrates Court in May and is now being taken to the Supreme Court for the damage they allegedly knowingly did to 31 sites on the Aboriginal Heritage Register, some of the few in Tasmania that are. What’s going to stop people doing stuff like this in the future? There’s one thing getting something knocked back before it goes to development. There’s another thing where people are knowingly destroying Aboriginal heritage. Is there going to be much stronger enforcement and penalties?
Mrs ARCHER – We will certainly expect people to comply with the law now, as you might expect. It obviously wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment on any specific actions that are currently before the court, but I certainly have an expectation that people will comply with the existing legislation. We are also, as I said, looking to strengthen that legislation. Louise, did you want to make some more comments?
Ms WILSON – Sure. Through you, minister. In the new act, what’s really important will be a broader suite of compliance and enforcement tools. Under the current act there’s only court prosecution and court action, which can sometimes take very long periods of time, a statute of limitations applies as well. That means it’s very expensive, it’s adversarial and it’s a little bit unpredictable as well, particularly in the early stages of when, in 27 we changed some of the penalties. We increased and strengthened penalties and created two nuances of offences. Since then, obviously those penalties have to play out through a court process and take into account precedents, et cetera. In the new act, we have a suite of options so that there are stop work orders, there are infringement notices, importantly, for minor offences that can be applied immediately, but there will also be full court prosecution as well with significant penalties.
Mrs ARCHER – We want your input on that though as well, obviously as we get to a draft.
