ABORIGINAL HERITAGE —
SECTION 18 CONSENT — SOUTH FLANK
608. Hon ROBIN CHAPPLE to the minister representing the
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs:
I refer to the article ''BHP
holds fire on destruction of 40 ancient Aboriginal heritage sites as part of
South Flank development in Pilbara despite approval'', referring to site
25664, published in The West Australian of 11 June.
(1) Given that
BHP has itself identified the issues with its current section 18 approval at
South Flank, has BHP remitted this approval back to the department?
(2) If yes to (1), when was this
done and when does it come into effect?
(3) If no to (1), does the existing
section 18 approval and its prescriptions remain in place?
(4) If yes to (3), does the section
18 approval have an expiry or end date?
(5) Will the
minister suggest ways in which the government or its departments can reinforce
and facilitate BHP's commitment to maintain protection of site 25664 in
its entirety?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by
the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.
(1)–(5) As
the honourable member is aware, a section 18 consent cannot be reviewed or
revoked by the Aboriginal Cultural Material Committee or the Minister for
Aboriginal Affairs. Section 18 consents are generally for the life of the
project. The minister has written to BHP urging it to consider the significance
of site 25664, to engage closely with the Banjima people and to avoid, when
possible, destruction of sites important to them.