‘No surrender’ on lifting Indigenous outcomes, says WA Premier Roger Cook

Premier Roger Cook is keen to build on the ‘unprecedented success’ of WA’s Aboriginal ranger program, citing his commitment to improving Indigenous outcomes.

WA Premier Roger Cook and Anthony Albanese at a press conference. Picture: NewsWire / Sharon Smith

West Australian Premier Roger Cook says he has not given up on improving the state’s Aboriginal cultural heritage regime, almost 18 months after he scrapped contentious laws introduced in the wake of the Juukan Gorge saga.

As Anthony Albanese used his latest visit to the west to downplay conjecture around the state of the relationship between the federal and state governments, Mr Cook told The Australian he stood by his decision to repeal the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act in August 2023, five weeks after the laws came into effect.

The laws were aimed at updating decades-old rules that had long been considered in need of an overhaul, even before mining giant Rio Tinto sparked global outrage when it legally detonated two ancient rock-shelters at Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara.

The updated laws, however, drew a fierce backlash from the pastoral industry and some in the mining sector, with Mr Cook – who had just replaced Mark McGowan as premier – acting swiftly to cauterise the damage.

“On Aboriginal heritage, I thought we hadn’t achieved that right balance, and we had lost the opportunity to bring the community with us. You make tough calls in this game, and I made a tough call around Aboriginal heritage,” Mr Cook said. “We continue to work hard in that area and other areas which impact upon First ­Nations people.”

Mr Cook’s decision to repeal those laws, and more recently his commitment not to legislate a state-based Indigenous voice, has disappointed some in the WA Indigenous community who had hoped for more from a premier who before politics served in senior roles across several Aboriginal organisations and whose wife, Carly, is Indigenous.

Mr Cook said he wanted to make sure Aboriginal people were not only beneficiaries of WA’s economic prosperity but were part of that economic success themselves. “Anyone with my experience, both professional and personal, would obviously have a commitment to make sure that prosperity is shared with our First Nations people,” he said.

“There are deep, complex issues in relation to that, and we’ll work hard to make sure we get the right balance in relation to it.”

He cited the state’s Aboriginal ranger program, which has supported dozens of Aboriginal organisations and created more than 1200 jobs for Aboriginal people in managing land and sea across WA, as an area in which his government would continue to invest if re-elected.

“The Aboriginal ranger program … is an unprecedented success and we will continue to fund that significantly into the future, because that combines the best elements of making sure we care for our country, that people can live on country and be engaged in fulfilling and worthwhile jobs, and continue to make sure we all respect and understand the important role that Aboriginals play, not only in terms of our historical experiences, but in terms of the future of the state as well,” he said.

Mr Cook and the Prime Minister appeared side by side in Perth on Thursday for what was Mr Albanese’s 27th visit to WA since the last election.

The two men addressed Mr Cook’s comments to The Australian that his Labor government was “proudly independent” and took different approaches to federal Labor on a “range of issues”.

The state opposition has tried to cash in on what they see as the unpopularity of the Albanese government in WA in their attempt to win back seats they lost in 2021, when the Liberal Party was reduced to two of 59 lower house seats.

Asked if he was concerned about Mr Cook’s comments, Mr Albanese said the pair would continue to back each other up in the lead-up to their respective elections in the coming months.

“All governments are independent. We make our own decisions, but we work co-operatively,” Mr Albanese said.

“Around the national cabinet table, we co-operate. That doesn’t mean that there’s a unison. We have a three-tiered system of government in Australia, and that’s something we deal with, but I certainly wish Roger very well.

“I think his government is very deserving of re-election in March.”

Mr Albanese said he was willing to consider Mr Cook’s call for federal funding for major port projects planned for Kwinana, south of Perth, and at Geraldton and Oakajee in the state’s Midwest.

The Prime Minister on Thursday announced $200m in funding for infrastructure across WA’s north, including port services in Wyndham, Ashburton and Dampier.

Mr Cook earlier this week told The Australian he was eager to see federal contributions to the Kwinana and Midwest ports, which he said would deliver economic benefits for not just the state but the nation.

“We’re open to working on a range of things,” Mr Albanese said.

Western Australia is shaping up as a crucial state for the upcoming federal election, with Labor’s ability to retain the four seats it gained there in 2022 likely to determine whether it can hold on to government.

Mr Cook, meanwhile, downplayed suggestions of a gap between the state and federal parties.

“Obviously we’ve got two key objectives. One, for WA Labor to win the election on the eighth of March and, two, for federal Labor to win the election when it is held. We’re all running our own races in relation to that,” he said.

“But I’ve never felt closer with the federal government in relation to the measures, policies and approach that we’re putting in place than we do now.”