Last week,Coalition deputy leader Peter Walsh announced the policy switch,claiming compulsory cultural heritage management plans,which are currently evaluated and approved by 11 registered Aboriginal parties,were the catalyst for the surprise move.
Tim Bull,second from right,pictured here at a swearing in ceremony in 2014,claimed credit for the reforms to the Aboriginal cultural heritage management laws in 2016.Angela Wylie/The Age
Walsh (and later Pesutto) claimed big developments,including those in Labor’s Big Build Project,were suffering unnecessary delays in the cultural heritage evaluation and approval process,placing the blame for higher construction costs squarely on the current strict compliance criteria and processes.
AsThe Age,less than 1 per cent of development in the state – 0.91 per cent to be precise – ends up in arbitration,but setting that data aside, regarding the Cultural Heritage Amendment Bill (2015) makes it clear the Napthine/Baillieu Coalition government was the brains behind the proposed reforms to the legislation almost a decade ago.
In his speech,Bull stresses the amendment bill is composed largely of recommendations provided in a 2014 exposure draft released by the previous government that followed a Coalition-commissioned inquiry into the establishment and effectiveness of registered Aboriginal parties.
“Included in that are a number of new offences that are being created by the bill to allow greater enforcement in relation to those who do not respect Aboriginal heritage and those who do not comply with the cultural heritage management plans,” Bull said in his 2016 speech.
“It also takes a step towards making those who do not do the right thing,who do not abide by the rules,who do not show appropriate respect,accountable for their actions.”
The long-standing National Party member for Gippsland East went on to again make clear the amendments in the bill were actually “the work of the previous government ... there was a lot of work done by the previous government that needs to be recognised”.
Overall,the bill,in Bull’s view at the time,was “a step in the right direction” that improved “the preservation of our cultural history”.
The bill was enacted into legislation in April 2016 and continues to determine Aboriginal cultural heritage compliance today.
Opposition Leader John Pesutto and Nationals leader Peter Walsh (left),who is also the Coalition’s Aboriginal affairs spokesman.AAP
In response to suggestions his members’ speech may undermine some of the assertions made by his party last week,Bull said he didn’t think the opposition’s position on the “critical importance” of cultural heritage protections had changed.
“We need to protect these areas,we need to respect these areas,but we need a timely process,” Bull toldThe Age.
Satisfying aspects within the compulsory cultural heritage management plans process had been one of the major elements of delayed bushfire-related rebuilds in his own Gippsland electorate,he said.
“There’s always been a need to get the balance right between development and protection. I don’t think you’d find a member of parliament that doesn’t support appropriate protections of our cultural heritage,but we have to deal with these matters in a more timely manner.”
Queensland's state parliament has made the decision to pass the Path to Treaty legislation.
The re-emergence of Bull’s 2016 speech comes as leaked meeting minutes,seen byThe Age,reveal that Walsh and his National Party colleagues met First Peoples’ Assembly co-chairs in November – the same month the shadow cabinet agreed to withdraw support for treaty – but gave no indication of their decision during the meeting.
Responding to the Coalition’s claims regarding cultural heritage management plan compliance and processes last week,Wurundjeri elder and chair of the recognised Aboriginal party,the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation,Allan Wandin,said the Coalition – alongside the mining,farming and construction industries in Victoria – sought to “bulldoze the state’s cultural heritage system” in pursuit of financial profit.
“This attempt to directly link increasing house prices to the current statutory cultural heritage processes is a deliberate strategy to play on the fears of Australians struggling with cost-of-living pressures,higher interest rates and rents,and increases to the cost of everyday food and services,” Wandin said.
“Victoria’s treaty aspirations should not be undermined by the opposition who would rather line the pockets of developers than protect Victoria’s world-renowned cultural heritage.”
Wandin also reminded the opposition that the cultural tourism industry generated billions of dollars for the Australian economy each year.
A spokesperson for the Nationals said Walsh was unavailable to comment on Bull’s 2016 speech.
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