Aboriginal Remains, Riverlea Park

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (14:45): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before directing a question to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs regarding the discovery of Aboriginal remains at Riverlea.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: As honourable members would be aware, Aboriginal remains were exhumed at the Riverlea development site last year, with the minister due to receive a report on this matter. My questions for the minister are:

1. Can he confirm that he has received a report related to these discoveries, and when?

2. Can the minister explain reasons for the extensive period since the discovery in making a decision regarding this matter?

3. What actions has he taken since the report was received?

4. When is a final decision expected?

5. Considering the critical importance of preserving Aboriginal heritage and the impact on development timelines, will there be changes to the process to ensure that they are more transparent going forward?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:46): I thank the honourable member for her question. As she correctly points out, up around the Riverlea area where there is a residential development occurring there have been discoveries of ancestral Aboriginal remains. There have been a number of interventions to ensure the preservation of those remains. There is an application that was made under section 23 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act and the consultation that occurs pursuant to section 13 of that act occurring over about the last 12 months.

Many of these applications under the Aboriginal Heritage Act are very complicated. This one in particular had many interested parties, and I think this has been the most extensive section 13 consultation that certainly I can remember in my 20 years involved in Aboriginal affairs in South Australia being conducted in relation to an application under that act.

These are necessarily very thorough processes. They were thorough under a former Labor government, they were thorough processes under the last term of the Liberal government, and they continue to be thorough processes, as they need to be under the Aboriginal Heritage Act. In relation to a final determination pursuant to that section 23 application, I don't have an exact date, but it is in the not-too-distant future this year.