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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 3329 asked in the Legislative Council on 15 October 2020 by Hon Robin Chapple

Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment representing the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs
Parliament: 40 Session: 1


Question

I refer to two letters of reference, number 69-03609 dated 30 November 2017, and 69-14787 dated 15 August 2019, to Fortescue Metals Group Pty Ltd and Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd respectively, signed by the Minister, and I ask:
(a) is it correct, with reference to letter 69-03609, that the Minister in granting the section 18 application gave permission to destroy eight rock shelters, one artefact site and three walled storage sites;
(b) did the Minister grant consent to destroy these sites without any information other than dimensions and presence/absence of surface artefacts;
(c) is it correct, with reference to letter 69-14787, that the Minister in granting the section 18 application gave permission to Rio Tinto to destroy two rock shelters for the expansion of Rio Tinto's Silvergrass mining operations; and
(d) is it correct, with reference to letter 69-14787, that the two rock shelters, SG-07-22 and SG-07-02, has occupation dates of 43,000 years and 5,300 years (no basal dates at the time) respectively?

Answered on 12 November 2020

My answer responds to this question and question without notice no. 1155 asked on 21 October 2020, given that both questions deal with the same subject matter.

(a)-(d) As the member is aware, when the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs makes a decision pursuant to section 18(3) of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 (the Act) in relation to a section 18 Notice, the Minister does so having regard to the recommendation of the Aboriginal Cultural Material Committee (ACMC) and the general interests of the community. The ACMC is established by section 28 of the Act. Its members are required to have special knowledge, experience or responsibility in relation to the recognition and evaluation of the cultural significance of matters coming before the ACMC.

As required by the Act, the ACMC provided recommendations to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in relation to both of the matters that are the subject of the member’s questions.

In relation to Fortescue Metals Group Ltd’s (FMG) Solomon project, after considering the section 18 Notice and all of the information provided by FMG and the Traditional Owners, the ACMC made a recommendation to the Minister to grant consent subject to conditions. Having regard to this recommendation and the general interest of the community, the Minister granted consent subject to conditions.

In relation to Hamersley Iron Pty Limited’s (Hamersley) Silvergrass project, the ACMC similarly undertook its responsibilities to consider the section 18 Notice and all of the information provided by Hamersley and the Traditional Owners, and resolved to recommend that consent be granted subject to conditions. Having regard to this recommendation and the general interest of the community, the Minister granted consent subject to conditions.

Archaeological and ethnographic surveys were conducted with the full participation of Eastern Guruma representatives between 2008 and 2018. Wintawari Guruma Aboriginal Corporation (WGAC) expressed its appreciation of the excision of important sites from the area, including a tharra (sacred storage place) and two other significant rock shelters with occupation dating to 43,000 years ago for one and at least 18,000 years ago for the other. WGAC proposed the capturing of details from the sites, to which Hamersley agreed.

Aboriginal Site ID 27154 (SG-07-02) was determined, through an excavation under a section 16 permit, to have been a reasonably well utilised rock shelter during the last 5,000 years, with the archaeologist stating that the results confirmed a low to medium significance for the site. The excavation of Aboriginal site ID 27171 (SG-07-22) determined its level of significance to be high.

In their deliberations, both the ACMC and the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs gave particular consideration to the commitments made by Hamersley in correspondence to the Registrar of Aboriginal Sites as a result of discussions between it and the Traditional Owners. It was important to WGAC that information about the sites, and 3D capture of the sites, be available to current and future Eastern Guruma generations. Mitigation strategies requested by WGAC, to which Hamersley agreed, related to further open excavation of the rock shelters; analysis of artefacts, faunal materials and other organic remains; photogrammetic capture and digital 3D reconstruction of the rock shelters; and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and paired radiocarbon dating.