Farm lobby groups get a seat as Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act ‘implementation’ panel holds first meeting

WA’s two peak farm lobby groups will have a seat at the table on Friday when a cross-sector “implementation” committee meets for the first time to iron out issues arising from the State’s new Aboriginal heritage laws. WAFarmers chief executive Trevor Whittington and Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA policy and communications director, Sheldon Mumby have both been appointed to the group. Draft terms of reference reveal its objectives are to “share information on emerging implementation issues”, discuss potential solutions and inform a review promised by Aboriginal Affairs Minister Tony Buti one year into the operation of the new regime. Those discussions will remain strictly confidential, with members barred from “any public statements” that relate to the deliberations of the group. However, Mr Whittington told Countryman he would raise several issues on Friday, including the need for the Government to “fast track changes to the regulations that give clear exemptions to farmers”. “That’s the biggest and most immediate thing. . . so that ‘like-for-like’ is actually defined in the legislation,” he said. “We want ‘like-for-like’ (activities) to be changed to ‘normal farming practice’, then that would take a lot of pressure off. “The second thing is why can’t the Government fund heritage surveys, why are they pushing it on landholders? “The next thing is why won’t Government fund the compensation for the loss of property rights?” Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage director general Anthony Kannis will chair the group, which has also invited representation from the Chamber of Minerals and Energy, Australian Minerals and Exploration Association, Urban Development Institute of Australia, Property Council, WA Local Government Association and Main Roads WA. Also invited to take part are four Aboriginal corporations: Nyamba Buru Yarwuru (Kimberley), Tjiwarl (Goldfields), Yindjibarndi Ngurra (Pilbara) and Whadjuk (Perth). The National Native Title Council will also have a seat at the table, as will co-chairs of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Council Ken Wyatt and Irene Stainton. Membership of the group was only bedded down late last week, nearly a week after the updated Act came into effect. PGA president Tony Seabrook — who started a parliamentary petition that, in the space of a fortnight, obtained nearly 30,000 signatures calling for a six-month delay to the Act’s start date — said he viewed the implementation group “with a great deal of concern”. “There are many members on that working group,” he said. “If you look at the makeup of that committee, what chance have we got? “The mining industry is not going to be magnanimous enough to fight on behalf of agriculture. . . we are highly unlikely to carry the day.” Mr Seabrook said the group was little more than a way for the Government to shift the responsibility of “working out how to implement the new Act” after botching the process itself. “If you’ve got a thorny problem in government — and this is historic, this goes back decades — then form a committee and hand the responsibility for the decision to that committee,” he said. “Most of all, put enough of the right people on the committee that you get the answers back or the solution back that you want.” Mr Seabrook said while he understood why the group’s discussions would be kept confidential, he also had his suspicions. “It’s a difficult thing, because you can’t have a committee with everybody squealing their heads off after every meeting, it turns into a mess,” he said. “But also, I’m very suspicious of that, because they’re gagging everybody. The main reason I’m not interested in being part of that implementation committee is it would gag me, and I couldn’t have the conversation we’re having right now.” The group’s work will be fed into the State Government’s 12-month review of the Act’s regulations, according to the terms of reference. “Membership of the Implementation Group is by invitation to those peak industry bodies and other associations that represent the biggest users of the new Aboriginal cultural heritage system, in addition to representatives from the Aboriginal community and government,” the terms of reference state. “Additional members may be invited at the discretion of the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.” The group will meet for an initial six-month period, with the frequency of those meetings one of the first orders of business to be decided at Friday’s meeting.