Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. He's asking a question about two completely unrelated things. He's asking a question about the referendum, and the referendum, of course, is very clear. It's about the constitutional amendment to recognise 65,000 years of history and culture in this country, and it's about listening. It's about recognition, and it's about listening.

The cultural heritage reforms that were begun under the previous environment minister—the work that was commissioned under her; the funding contracts that were entered into under her—that work is ongoing. It is complex work, and, in fact, I've been delighted that, until now, this work has been supported in a bipartisan way, not just by the former environment minister, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, not just by the member for Leichhardt, as I have repeatedly said, in the excellent work that he did with Senator Dodson on the Juukan Gorge inquiries, but also by your shadow minister for the environment, who, in the other place on 28 November last year, said that those events were so disastrous that they made it very clear that 'comprehensive' work needed to begin as a matter of urgency on modernising Indigenous heritage protection laws in Australia—comprehensive work. We are doing that comprehensive work in the way that was begun by the previous minister for the environment. Indeed, the member for Cowper has said, when responding to the Juukan Gorge reports, and I quote:

… we are very pleased that the minister has now made clear that she will be continuing the work that had already begun in this area during the years of the coalition government.

And I further quote:

… we always considered that I was vital that this process be centred on the views and the experience of the traditional owners.

That's why we are engaging in this detailed way, this thoughtful way, with the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance, the organisation contracted by the previous minister for the environment.'

Can I also say that Senator Dean Smith said—

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