A community tree planting event in Western Australia has reportedly been shut down by a local Aboriginal elder citing the state’s controversial new cultural heritage laws.
Shane Van Styn, Mayor of the City of Greater Geraldton, 420km north of Perth, said in a Facebook post that Sunday’s tree planting at Wonthella Bushland Reserve had been called off as a result of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act.
“Today, attendees made their way to Wonthella Bush Reserve to plant trees in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee,” he wrote.
“Despite checking the site online prior for any Aboriginal heritage, of which there was none, a respected local knowledge holder shut down proceedings on the basis of ground disturbance and the new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act and the ‘significance’ of the site to the family.”
WA’s sweeping new Aboriginal cultural heritage laws came into effect from July 1, imposing harsh penalties for damaging sites of traditional significance.
The key change under the new Act is the establishment of Local Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Services, or LACHS, which will be responsible for determining whether an activity will cause “harm” to cultural heritage.
Mr Van Styn said the reserve had been “ravaged” last year by a deliberately lit fire and the tree planting was part of an effort to restore the remaining bushland.
“This is the first use of power of entry and stoppage we are aware of under the Act, despite technically not being an official Aboriginal Inspector under the Act as no LACHS has yet been created to appoint them as such,” he said.
“So some confusion is now in play. CGG complied with the directive to stop the tree planting and we apologise for the inconvenience.”
Mr Van Styn has been contacted for comment.
Federal Liberal MP Melissa Price, who represents the large WA electorate of Durack, was invited to attend the event “to help with the planting of the trees”.
“Although disappointed that didn’t occur, everyone was respectful,” she wrote.
“As we had predicted, the new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage laws have created much uncertainty. I feel particularly bad for Friends of Geraldton Gardens (our wonderful volunteers) who now care for the Wonthella Bushland Reserve and were ready to plant the trees today. Let’s hope this matter gets resolved quickly.”
WA Aboriginal Affairs Minister Tony Buti said in a statement to 9 News Perth that the new laws did not allow the elder to shut down the event, and an investigation would be launched.
“The only thing that is clear is that this has been a botched process from the start,” state Liberal leader Libby Mettam told the broadcaster.
WA’s new laws introduce a complex three-tiered system, under which anyone on more than 1100 square metres of land will be required to apply for a permit from their LACHS before carrying out certain activities, such as digging fences, planting trees or clearing tracks.
The landowner will be required to pay the LACHS to assess their application.
Under the fee guidelines, one senior Aboriginal consultant – defined as “an Aboriginal person who is recognised within their community as being senior and as having higher levels of knowledge, expertise, skills and authority in relation to [Aboriginal cultural heritage]” – can charge up to $160 an hour, or $1200 per day.
A LACHS chief executive can charge up to $280 an hour, while “other expert service providers” can charge up to $300 an hour.
An additional 20 per cent loading may apply to very remote areas, while costs such as travel, accommodation and meals “may be included in a fee structure”.
Penalties for damaging a cultural heritage site range from $25,000 to $1 million for individuals and $250,000 to $10 million for corporations, as well as jail time.
Following widespread backlash from farmers and landholders, upset over what they said was the rushed implementation and lack of clarity on the regulations, the state government late last month announced it would delay compliance penalties for a year in favour of an “education-first” policy.
“I want to make it clear that for more than 50 years it has been unlawful to harm Aboriginal cultural heritage in WA — this will not change under the new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act,” WA Premier Roger Cook said in a statement at the time.
“We have consulted extensively with Aboriginal people and industry to find a balance that allows Aboriginal people to speak for their country and ensures that many activities continue with minimal disruption or additional burden.”
Opposition lands spokesman Neil Thomson had repeatedly called for a delay to the July 1 implementation of the new laws.
“People are worried about their future and fear being bound up in red tape which could require permits for things such as putting a new fence in, digging a dam or removing noxious vegetation,” he told WAToday.
“Farmers, pastoralists, and companies that provide services such as plumbing and civil contracting are all trying to work out the implications, as are hobby farmers around the metropolitan area that are deeply concerned about what they will be allowed to do on their land, without a permit.”
Last month, farmers and pastoralists told news.com.au they feared the new laws would be used to “hold us to ransom”.
WA Farmers president John Hassell said the “open-ended” system could be abused. “There wouldn’t be a grower in the state that doesn’t want to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage,” he said.
“The challenge we’ve got is you can see cultural heritage when it’s a burial site or meeting place, but you can’t see spiritual stuff — that is subject to change. You can’t do a survey on your place and have it marked out forever after because someone can come along later and say this is a spiritual place.”
Debbie Dowden, owner of the 200,000-hectare Challa Station in the state’s mid-west Murchison region, said she was “dreading what the cost is going to be for our property”.
“We’ve got half a million acres,” she said.
“We want to build 10 trackyards in the next two or three years, plus rehydration, plus 60 kilometres of fencing — do we have to get a person out for every one of those sites? The cost would be absolutely prohibitive. It’s like they could hold us to ransom, it really is. We’ve got no comeback, no way of saying the Woggle Breath or whatever does not exist here — and nobody can prove it. It sounds like there’s so much room for corruption, it’s just horrifying.”
frank.chung@news.com.au