Responsibility for First Nations heritage protection reform is in the Albanese government's hands after rival advocates reached agreement on proposed new terms for federal heritage law changes.
The path for the re-elected Labor government to provide lasting protection of Indigenous cultural heritage, five years since the Juukan Gorge disaster in the Pilbara, was forged after Traditional Owners represented by the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance and the Australian minerals industry - represented by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) - worked in unison to ensure the event on May 24, 2020, never happened again.
Multiple inquiries since Rio Tinto's devastating but technically legal destruction of the sacred cultural site for the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) communities all found existing federal cultural heritage protection regimes were not fit for purpose.
While initial responses from governments were strong, the Alliance and MCA said meaningful engagement with First Nations people by the Commonwealth to co-design new laws had yet to translate into tangible reform.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and industry cannot wait another five years for cultural heritage reform. This week the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance and the MCA jointly called on the Government to make cultural heritage reform a priority.
First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance co-chair and North Queensland Land Council CEO Leon Yeatman, a proud Gunggandji man from Yarrabah with connections to Yalanji, Yidinji and Kalkadoon nations, said Traditional Owners and the mining industry had worked hard to find common ground and it was now the responsibility of the government to honour its commitment to reform legislation.
"We may not agree on everything all the time, but on this, we agree it is time to act," Mr Yeatman said.
"These cultural sites are not only sacred to Aboriginal people, they should also be sites of national pride as proof of the world's oldest continuous culture.
"The distress caused to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura People by the destruction of the caves must be recognised and action finally taken so this cannot be repeated. A starting place for that is identifying in our laws who speaks for country and streamlined process for engaging with those that have cultural authority in a particular region.
"This will provide protection and certainty for community and industry so business can create new economic assets and opportunities, while protecting our cultural assets."
Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable said the mining industry had worked over the past five years to regain the confidence and trust of Traditional Owners.
"Our industry places enormous value on our connection and relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people all across Australia. This is a coming together moment," she said.
"There is broad agreement on the way forward, and we are now looking for the Government to show leadership and work alongside the MCA and the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance to provide a once in a generation change and see this as a genuine opportunity for healing."
In a statement to mark the fifth anniversary of the destruction at Juukan Gorge, the PKKP Aboriginal Corporation said the destruction caused significant distress to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura community and lead to global condemnation and a parliamentary inquiry into the state of heritage legislation in Australia.
"What happened five years ago will never be forgotten by the PKKP people but to ensure such tragedies do not happen again we continue to work with Rio Tinto and other miners to implement effective and fair co-management agreements for their activities on PKKP Country," the PKKP said
"We have taken control of heritage management on PKKP Country so that we are doing the work of the government and that our agreements make up for the flaws of the legislation."
The destruction of the sacred cultural site for the PKKP prompted a Parliamentary inquiry, and a promise in 2021 by then-environment minister Sussan Ley to overhaul the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act (ATSIHPA).
Ms Ley said at the time the government would collaborate with the FNHPA to redesign Heritage laws Juukan Gorge, but progression has gathered momentum only recently through the MCA and FNHPA pact.
Tanya Plibersek, her Labor successor, had said the Albanese government would continue the reforms.
The Opposition had promised to overhaul federal heritage laws if elected, with environment spokesman Jonathon Duniam pledging pre-election to finalise delayed reforms to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act as land-rights bids from small councils continued to gather steam.
Senator Duniam said future heritage laws needed to balance national interest with cultural protection.
The First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance, a coalition of major Indigenous organisations, works to strengthen laws and policies that protect First Nations Cultural Heritage and first met in response to the 2020 destruction of the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge Caves.
The historic meeting of First Nations leaders from across the nation – representing Aboriginal Land Councils, Native Title representative bodies and service providers, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Organisations – exposed outrage at the destruction, and a vow to pursue national reforms to prevent similar destruction and preserve cultural history.
A mandate was created to strengthen and modernise Cultural Heritage laws and to create industry reforms that ensure Indigenous Cultural Heritage is valued and protected for the future.