News summary: Heritage stoush ‘makes mockery of laws’ intent’
Western Australia’s Aboriginal heritage laws have come under fire for what critics say is bureaucratic overreach that undermines their original intent.
In an excellent article published today in The Australian newspaper, Paige Taylor explains that WAFarmers has launched a campaign highlighting how the legislation makes it a criminal offence to publish photographs of registered heritage sites without ministerial approval, even when those images appear on Google Maps or in wedding albums. The organisation has reported Google and several major media outlets to the state government’s investigation team, arguing that they may have breached the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972.
This push comes in support of farmer Tony Maddox, who is appealing his conviction after concreting a driveway across a creek on his property—an act deemed unlawful because the site had been registered without his knowledge.
WAFarmers president Steve McGuire condemned the prosecution as a misuse of laws meant to protect genuine cultural heritage, warning that such overreach risks creating dangerous precedents for farmers, miners, and landowners across the state.
