Question Time

Aboriginal Heritage Act

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:28): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking questions of the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation in relation to the Aboriginal Heritage Act.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: In March 2016, earlier this year, parliament passed a bill to amend the Aboriginal Heritage Act. The day after final passage, on 23 March, I asked the minister a question on the impact of those amendments. My questions focused on one of a number of concerns that the President of the Law Society, Mr David Caruso, had raised in a letter to the minister specifically relating to the impact of the amendments on the order of mandamus directed to the minister in the decision of the Full Court of the Supreme Court in Starkey & Ors v State of South Australia. In reply to my question, the minister said:

In terms of the absolute specific effect on a particular place, I do not want to give an answer that is not as complete as it should be. I will take that on notice, but if I come back even before we meet again I undertake to inform the honourable member of the answer to that question. It is one that I suspect I know what the answer might be; however, in a matter that has a very specific legal answer I do not want to give an answer that may be incorrect. As soon as I am able I will come back either to this chamber or to the honourable member with an answer to that.

Three months have passed since the minister made those remarks. He has not provided the council with an answer to my question, nor has he provided an answer to me directly. My questions to the minister are:

1. When will you answer my question in relation to the impact of the amendments to the Aboriginal Heritage Act under the government's obligations arising from the 2011 decision of the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia in the case of Starkey & Ors v State of South Australia?

2. Has the minister written back to the President of the Law Society to provide the clarification that he sought on this and other matters and, if so, will he provide the council with a copy of that correspondence?

3. Given that the amendments to the act came into operation more than three months ago, when will the associated guidelines and regulations be published?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:29): I thank the honourable member for his question and I am in a position to be able to inform him today of the answers. We have sought advice. I think it was within the last few days that I wrote back to the President of the Law Society. I will not provide a copy of the correspondence with him to the chamber, but I am sure if the honourable member asks him, the President of the Law Society may provide a copy, if he wishes to, of that correspondence to him.

But I think I am able in my answer to indicate what that letter back to the President of the Law Society said, either earlier this week or late last week, now that we have legal advice. The legal advice is, as I suspected when this question was asked some time ago, but I wanted to make absolutely sure, that any matters on foot in relation to section 6(2) are now null and void. So the very specific question in relation to the particular order in the Starkey case requiring a decision to be made now has no effect as that section is removed from the act.