Yes campaign relieved as WA set to scrap controversial heritage laws

Gulkula, Northern Territory: An obstacle appears to have been cleared from the path of the Yes campaign with the Western Australian government expected to scrap controversial Aboriginal heritage laws that had become a flashpoint in the Voice referendum.

Reports of the move to ditch the laws were welcomed by the Yes campaign and Voice advocates at the Garma Festival in north-east Arnhem Land yesterday, after the federal Coalition sought to link the two issues and suggested the WA measures were a precursor to broader national changes that could infringe on property owners’ rights.

Yes 23 campaign director Dean Parkin said it gave his side clear air to sell the Voice as it ramps up its efforts to win over Australians ahead of an anticipated referendum date in October.

“It absolutely gives us a clear pathway ... to be able to focus very closely on that very simple question on recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first people to this country through a voice.

“Unfortunately some of those issues have been caught up a little bit with that debate about cultural heritage in WA,” he said. Published polls show WA is likely to vote No in the referendum, but the fierce backlash to the heritage laws had threatened to spill into the broader national campaign.

Shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash, a WA senator, said abandoning the laws would be a humiliating backdown and suggested it had been made because the controversy was turning Australians off the Voice.

“The chaos that was caused in Western Australia is an indication of what could happen if a Voice to parliament is enshrined in our Constitution,” Cash said.

The WA laws – introduced to heighten protection of cultural sites following the destruction of the ancient Juukan Gorge by Rio Tinto in 2020 – required landowners with properties larger than 1100 square metres to apply for permits or create management plans for work on their land that may impact an Aboriginal cultural heritage site, and have generated confusion over compliance.

The laws, which took effect in July, faced a fierce backlash from farmers, while the federal opposition pushed the Albanese government to rule out replicating the laws federally.

Speaking at the Garma festival, Rio Tinto Australia chief executive Kellie Parker said she would be seeking further details from the WA government, as she rejected criticism from the opposition about corporates supporting the Yes campaign.

“We tragically made massive mistakes at Juukan Gorge and have learned really, really deep lessons,” she said. “One of those is that if you listen, and you can co-manage country, you get a much better outcome ... That’s what I think the Voice is. You’re listening to what Indigenous people want.”

Aboriginal land council leaders also sought to assuage public concerns about the Voice in light of the controversy around the WA laws.

Kimberley Land Council chief executive Tyronne Garstone condemned the rollout of the laws as “appalling”, saying the legislation had never been supported by Aboriginal people.

“We’ve always thought this is clearly two different issues that we’re dealing with. The act itself, the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act, is something else. But the Voice is the hope for the future for all of us.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese embraces a child after his Garma keynote speech.Credit: Rhett Wyman

Peter Lansen from the Northern Land Council said: “We’re not here to steal your backyard. We are here to work with you. We are here to share our culture fully with you.”

The four-day festival, a celebration of Yolngu culture and a testament to Aboriginal struggle and survival, draws a crowd of high-flying corporate executives, diplomats, politicians and representatives from government agencies who mingle with members from dozens of clans that comprise the Yolngu nation.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was given a standing ovation from the crowd after he delivered the keynote speech to the festival.

Departing briefly from his set remarks, which he used to declare there would be “no delaying or deferring this referendum”, he drew upon the Australian coat of arms to reinforce his claim that the Voice represented a path forward from the status quo for Indigenous Australians.

“I was reminded that the kangaroo and emu that sit on the crest, that sit on my letterhead, are two of the only animals in the world that never go backwards – they just go forwards,” Albanese said. “The referendum is about whether we retreat into ourselves or have the courage to advance forward. That is what it is about.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton turned down an invitation to attend Garma, describing the festival this week as “a love-in” for the Yes campaign and its corporate backers. Last month, Dutton singled out Rio Tinto, BHP and Wesfarmers, which have donated $2 million each to the Yes campaign, as he accused big business of lacking “a significant backbone” and failing to act in the country’s interest by supporting the Voice.

Cape York leader Noel Pearson told the festival the referendum was the “last best chance” to recognise Indigenous Australians in the constitution and set children up with a better future than their parents, as he pledged the Yes campaign would leave no stone unturned in its bid to convince voters.

Noel Pearson speaks at the Garma keynote forum.Credit: Rhett Wyman

“This is not about Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton,” Pearson said on Saturday. “This is about whether we’re going to achieve a new Australia – and for our mob it is going to be new. It is going to be a new Australia for young Aboriginal children.”

At a corporate dinner at the Garma Festival last night, Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney told chief executives and business representatives backing the Voice that the No campaign was advocating for the unacceptable status quo facing many First Nations people to continue.

“If we say ‘No’ we are accepting that things cannot get better. Those arguing for ‘No’ are offering no solutions,” Burney said.

Earlier on Saturday, incoming AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon defended the organisation’s support for the Voice during a press conference at the festival.

“The AFL as an organisation has come out in support of a Yes vote,” Dillon said.

“We think that is very important from an AFL point of view with the number of First Nations players that we have, the number of First Nations men and women we have working in the AFL.

“What we say to the people of Australia is to make sure you educate yourself.”

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