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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-08-28 Daily Xml
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Aboriginal Remains, Riverlea Park

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (14:48): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs on the topic of the Riverlea development and Aboriginal heritage consultation.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: After ancestral remains were found within the Riverlea development site, consultation with traditional owners and interested Aboriginal people and organisations was extended to allow further submissions to be made. I understand the issue has gone before the State Aboriginal Heritage Committee and further legal advice is being sought. Of course, these remains must be treated with respect and in line with the wishes of the traditional owners, Aboriginal people and organisations. My questions to the minister are:

1. At what stage is this consultation at, and when will a decision be made as to how the ancestral remains will be managed?

2. Will the Walker Corporation have any obligation to create a reflection centre and memorial garden, as per the wishes of some in the community?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:49): I thank the honourable member for her question, and she was quite right in a number of the ways she characterised the application that is made under section 23 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act that concerns the Riverlea development at Buckland Park by the Walker Corporation.

This has indeed been a very involved and lengthy process and there has been an extension of consultation with community members to allow for as much input as possible. Certainly, in my couple of decades in various roles dealing with applications under the Aboriginal Heritage Act, this would be the biggest or certainly one of the biggest applications in terms of the amount of time and effort and the number of consultations and the number of submissions that have been made.

This has followed the usual practices of involvement of the provision of legal advice. The State Aboriginal Heritage Committee, as is required under the act, has considered the application that has been made in the views that have been put forward. It is in the final stages of consideration. I would expect in the coming months that that would enable a final decision to be made.

In relation to what conditions will be placed on any potential authorisation, that is not something that I can foreshadow at all. In fact, I suspect that if a member attempted to do that it might give grounds for judicial review for any decision that is eventually made. So, whilst I appreciate the honourable member's question about what conditions might be in place, it is certainly not something that I am able to or should comment on given that a decision has not been made yet.

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