CANBERRA, Nov 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Indigenous groups from around Australia, will shape the country’s cultural heritage protection systems, under a new agreement.
The government today announced a partnership with the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance, under which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, will have a direct say in reforming heritage laws.
Australia’s Indigenous culture heritage protection systems, faced intense criticism, since mining giant, Rio Tinto, destroyed culturally significant 46,000-year-old rock shelters, at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia, last year.
A parliamentary inquiry in Oct, slammed state and federal legislation as inadequate, calling for a new legislative framework, to better protect sites of cultural significance.
Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, said today that, the views of Indigenous people needed to be central to the overhaul of protection laws.
“Indigenous Australians should have the right to determine the heritage that is important to them, the ability to access applicable policies and laws, to safeguard that heritage, and the choice of how they generate revenue on their land,” he said in a statement.
“As we look to modernise Indigenous protection, it is fundamentally important that we are working in partnership with Indigenous Australians and recognising the rights of traditional owners, to manage their land and heritage as they deem fit.”
The alliance will represent more than 30 Indigenous groups from across the country and consult with many others. It will be chaired by Kado Muir, the chair of the National Native Title Council, who welcomed the opportunity to help design the reforms.
“It is important that our cultural heritage places are recognised and protected, on the basis of inherent cultural heritage values, and not as an element of land access and development approvals,” he said.– NNN-AGENCIES
