Indigenous voice to parliament: WA heritage laws cast shadow over referendum

The abandonment of a planned tree-planting in Geraldton and an argument between two Indigenous men over a smoking ceremony comes at a time when support for the voice is falling.

Steve Jacobs on Sunday. Picture: 7 News

Separate incidents in different corners of Western Australia have underscored the difficult introduction of the state’s new Aboriginal cultural heritage laws and further complicated the Yes campaign for the voice in the west.

Premier Roger Cook and Treasurer Rita Saffioti on Monday had to clarify the details of different matters, including the abandonment of a planned tree-planting in the Mid West city of Geraldton and a heated argument between two Indigenous men over who had the rights to conduct a smoking ceremony at the opening of a highway extension.

Geraldton mayor Shane Van Styn said he had “shut down” an event to plant trees at Wonthella Bush Reserve on Saturday due to conflict and confusion over heritage legislation that came into ­effect last week.

The project, held to mark the late Queen’s jubilee, was deferred after a resident raised last-minute concerns regarding the area. He said a check of an online register found there was no Aboriginal heritage at the site, but “a respected local knowledge-holder shut down proceedings on the basis of ground disturbance and the new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act and the ‘significance’ of the site to the family”.

The dozens of Local Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Services, or LACHS, that are expected to ­facilitate the new regulations are not in place but Mr Van Styn said the groups would ultimately “have more power than the cops”. “LACHS officers can walk into businesses, on to sites and shut things down citing cultural issues. They can also appoint an Aboriginal person to act on their behalf also, which will have the same powers,” he told The Australian.

“If, as a city, I’ve got axes swinging and excavators digging and people come on to a worksite without the appropriate PPE, they can shut down plant operators immediately.”

But Mr Cook slammed the use of “alarmist language” around the incident and the broader heritage act, telling reporters that the new legislation was not about giving Indigenous representatives the ability to intervene in and disrupt planned works.

“The event that was anticipated by the city of Geraldton over the weekend could not have been stopped by the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act,” he said.

“My understanding is that the City of Geraldton officials took ­respectful action to make sure that they didn’t further escalate the situation because of the association with the Queen, not because of ­Aboriginal cultural heritage issues.”

Separately, an otherwise unremarkable opening of a new stretch of freeway in Perth’s north on Sunday was marred when an Indigenous man objected to the selection of Whadjuk Noongar man Steve Jacobs to conduct a smoking ceremony.

“I don’t need these people coming out here thinking you fellas can say this, say that on this land,” one man said in footage captured by 7News.

Mr Jacobs replied that he didn’t “need permission off you or anybody else”.

“This is my country too,” Mr Jacobs said.

An unidentified man interrupted the smoking ceremony at the opening of a new stretch of the $232 million Mitchell Freeway, in Perth on Sunday. Picture: 7 News

Ms Saffioti on Monday said the government had invited representatives from several Aboriginal communities with links to the area.

“In all communities people have different views, whether they are Aboriginal communities or not Aboriginal communities,” she said. “Out of respect, we invited representatives from all the groups, but then someone else ­attended and that person took issue with the elder undertaking the smoking ceremony.”

Both incidents come as support among West Australians for an ­Indigenous voice to parliament appears to be waning.

Federal MP Rick Wilson on Monday said he believed opposition to the voice was as high as 80 per cent in his vast West Australian electorate of O’Connor, citing the ­response of 1487 people to a survey emailed to his own database.

Mr Wilson said the Geraldton tree-planting incident was exactly how he expected the new heritage act to play out and warned that a 20 per cent Yes vote in WA could be optimistic if the state government did not backflip on the new regulations.

Asked if the latest episodes in WA could hurt support for the voice, Mr Cook called for community to unite behind the Yes campaign. “The voice is an extraordinary once-in-a-generation opportunity for all Australians to acknowledge and be respectful and allow for the consultation of Aboriginal people in relation to laws that impact them,” he said.

Additional reporting: Paige Taylor