Juukan Gorge inquiry: critical insights

THE Minerals Council of Australia will discuss its perspectives on cultural heritage protection and insights into improvements that could be made in the sector with the Northern Australia Committee at a public hearing tomorrow.

As well as this second appearance by the Minerals Council, the committee will also be hearing from Glencore/McArthur River Mine, Australian Archaeology Association, Australian Indigenous Archaeologists Association, Northern Land Council and Kokatha Aboriginal Corporation.

Northern Australia Committee Chair Warren Entsch noted that it would be interesting to hear the perspectives of archaeologists working in the area of Indigenous cultural heritage.

Mr Entsch stated he was "keen to engage with the Northern Land Council and the Kokatha Aboriginal Corporation in order to discuss their perspectives on issues that have been raised by other stakeholders".

The Australian Archaeology Association, in its submission, conveyed that situations comparable to Juukan Gorge, where Aboriginal sites having cultural significance to Traditional Owners, as well as scientific archaeological significance, are destroyed all too often.

A key issue for the Australian Indigenous Archaeologist’s Association is the dumbing down of Australia’s National, State and Territory Indigenous heritage legislation since the adoption of the EPBC Act in 1999.

A program for the public hearing is available on the committee’s website.

Public hearing details

Date: Tuesday, 6 July 2021
Time: 9am to 3pm AEST
Location: by video/teleconference

The hearings will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

Further details of the inquiry, including terms of reference, can be found on the Committee’s website.

 

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