The PGA and WAFarmers have called on the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH) to immediately deliver full public transparency of the work undertaken by the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Committee (ACHC).
WAFarmers President Steve McGuire said members of the ACHC meets every two weeks and are paid by the government to decide – ‘on behalf of the community’ – places of cultural significance and advise the Minister about questions related to the Act.
“There are many problems in the way our cultural heritage is regulated and managed, but the DPLH can make a simple and free change that will immediately improve the situation for everyone: publish all documents of the ACHC,” Mr McGuire said.
“Putting the agendas, papers and minutes of all ACHC meetings on the department’s website would not only inform property owners and land users of critical decisions but help everyone better understand and respect the important work of the committee.”
PGA spokesman Tony Seabrook said the conviction of Toodyay farmer Tony Maddox has brought this issue to the fore, and there is simply no sensible reason to let it continue.
“Tony Maddox was charged for not getting Ministerial permission to alter an Aboriginal site that he didn’t know the ACHC had created,” Mr Seabrook said.
“It is pure lunacy that someone can be charged for disturbing the ground on your own property when there is no public record of the decision to make it illegal!”
“What better way for the ACHC to inform land users and deliver its strategic priorities of ‘Providing education on the functions of the committee’ and ‘Transparency and accountability,’ than to show everyone what it does?”
“The courageous decision of Tony to fight this ridiculous charge has exposed a heap of systemic problems, but honestly, this is such a simple one to fix.”
“The department should be embarrassed that we had to call it out and publish the committee’s meeting documents today,” Mr Seabrook concluded.
For information about the ACHC including its Statement of Strategic Intent: https://www.wa.gov.au/government/document-collections/aboriginal-cultural-heritage-committee
For more information about the Tony Maddox case: https://tonymaddox.info/
