Ministerial Statement

MARALINGA LANDS

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:06): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: My ministerial statement relates to the handback of the land known as section 400 Maralinga to its rightful owners. In doing so, I congratulate every member of this house; I congratulate the opposition for its support for a day which I think is historic. More than 60 years ago, the Maralinga Tjarutja people were displaced from their lands so that their lands could be used for nuclear testing. This shameful episode in our nation's history and our state's history occurred at a time when little regard was given to Aboriginal people and their connection with their lands. But over time we have become a little more enlightened and, since the early 1980s, we have been working to ensure that the land is thoroughly rehabilitated and returned to its traditional owners.

I pay tribute to successive governments that have moved to try to right this historic wrong. Of course, the British government's testing resulted in significant contamination of areas of Maralinga by radioactive substances, including plutonium and other hazardous materials. The first handback of land occurred in 1984, followed by a further handback of two parcels of land in 1991. I should say that the major handback of land under the time of the Bannon government, when I think Greg Crafter was the minister for Aboriginal affairs, was a sizeable portion of land. Then later when I was minister for Aboriginal affairs, with the strong support of members opposite, we handed back the sacred Ooldea lands to the Maralinga Tjarutja people. In more recent times, as Premier, I was able to hand back the Unnamed Conservation Park—a huge area of land about the size of Sicily in area—to the Maralinga Tjarutja people.

But there was always one part of the jigsaw uncompleted, and that was section 400 where the actual atomic tests took place where there is a major airstrip capable of dealing with Vulcan bombers laden with nuclear bombs and also a village at Maralinga. Until now, we have been unable to complete the handback of all the land. Access to section 400 has remained restricted because of its contamination.

Since the mid-1990s, section 400 has been extensively rehabilitated. This has reduced the radiation levels to levels agreed to be safe by the commonwealth, the state and, most importantly, the Maralinga Tjarutja people. There were many years of negotiations between the Maralinga Tjarutja, the commonwealth government and the state government to get to the point where we are now. Indeed, I congratulate Maralinga Tjarutja elders who we assisted to visit Great Britain in the early 1990s and I was involved personally in negotiations with the British Department of Defence.

Section 400 can now be returned to its traditional owners at last after 60 years. This morning, in a commendable spirit of bipartisanship, this house moved with remarkable speed to pass the bill that will enable the handback to occur. I am grateful to all members for their support. I am sure we were all moved with the same desire to put right as soon as possible the wrong that was done to the Maralinga Tjarutja people all those years ago. I am sure that the same desire will motivate members in both houses of this parliament.

I would like to pay tribute to the Maralinga Tjarutja people. They have shown remarkable patience and cooperation in sorting through all the difficulties that have seen their land withheld from them for over 60 years. They have shown extraordinary patience, and I hope that what they witness today goes some way to repaying their faith that this parliament would restore their land.

We are all sad, though, that today came too late for one of the architects of this handback, Kunmanara Queama, who passed away last week. He was one of the elders who led the charge for rehabilitation of the lands and for a return of the lands. Mr Queama was an outstanding community leader and a celebrated artist who perhaps will be most remembered for his great love of country and his strong connection to it.

That we are here today on the threshold of this historic completion of the process of returning the land to the Maralinga Tjarutja people is a testament to the driving role Mr Queama played in bringing all the parties together and keeping them to their task. He will be sorely missed, most particularly by his community.

It is fitting on this historic day that we pay tribute to his efforts in enabling the historic handover of the final part of the Maralinga land that was lost to its traditional owners when it became a nuclear test site. I am sure that all of us in this house now look forward to the official handover ceremony to complete Kunmanara Queama's work and restore this land to its rightful owners. I want to pay tribute to all members of this house again for acting in this historic way.