Page 1205 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 24 April 1990
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Gungahlin. There are many others but they are just a few of them. It is important that these sites and many other Aboriginal sites and artefacts within the ACT be protected. It is very interesting that we all rush to protect what I would call the white society that came to this country and we do not worry about the original people who occupied this land for many years before we even came, whose heritage I consider should be protected and should be looked at in this way.
The ACT Government recently released a number of draft Bills, one being the proposed Heritage Bill for the ACT. The Heritage Bill contains a section on Aboriginal heritage and on the establishment of a general heritage and artefacts register. It is unfortunate that, before releasing this Bill, the Government did not consult with local Aboriginals or the professional bodies such as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies which could have provided them with guidance in how to deal with Aboriginal heritage. I am sure it comes as a surprise to many members opposite to discover that there are descendents of the original inhabitants of the ACT, the Aboriginal community, still living here. I am sure it would be a surprise. They would not know that.
The first problem with the proposed legislation is that the Aboriginal heritage is dealt with within a general heritage Bill. I find this unacceptable and so does our party. You cannot deal with Aboriginal heritage and artefacts in a general heritage Bill. Experience elsewhere shows that this method is guaranteed to fail. It is important that our Aboriginal heritage be dealt with in its own legislation rather than being overtaken and overridden by a general piece of heritage legislation.
The second problem with this legislation is that it requires any person who discovers or knows of a place that is an Aboriginal site or an object that is an Aboriginal artefact to identify that site or artefact and to place it on an interim heritage register. This, of course, makes public the location of the site or the artefact. There are many Aboriginal members of the community who have knowledge of Aboriginal sites and artefacts but who do not wish them to be made public for a number of reasons. First of all, the site or artefact may be a tribal secret and the publication of its location would offend tribal law. Of course, the Government has never thought about that. It only thinks of its own laws. It does not think that the Aboriginals have laws that are very important. They have had them for thousands and thousands of years and therefore we should be looking at that and we should be saying that it is important that we take note of their laws. Secondly, the publication of the site could lead to the damage of the site or the artefact.
In his tabling speech, the Chief Minister said that the Heritage Bill would, by means of a separate listing
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