Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Scrutiny of Government Waste Committee) Share this | Hansard source

Another seven, Senator Boyce. This is a disaster. It is going to inject fear into the hearts and minds of people in Far North Queensland, particularly in Indigenous communities. It is very wrong, because the Queensland legislation does not just cover rivers. It covers river systems, catchment areas and basins, and they are being used to greatly increase the size of protected areas. The current situation is certainly worse than what many people ever accused Joh Bjelke-Petersen of creating. The facts stand there for everyone to see. It is not just about a river; it is much broader and the consequences are huge.

I note that some of the serious concerns expressed in the Senate report related to the breach of the statutory process by the Queensland government. That is set out in our report. The Queensland state election was held on 21 March 2009, with the current minister, the Hon. Stephen Robertson MP, sworn in on 26 March 2009. On 2 April 2009 the governing council approved the 2009 declarations, and that approval was gazetted on 3 April 2009. There is now a High Court challenge to that declaration and to the declarations regarding the wild rivers in Queensland. I hope that it does not come to a hearing. I hope that this bill will be passed and that that litigation can be withdrawn. But it just confirms again that this is a very dicky situation for those in Far North Queensland and their economic opportunities in the wild river areas.

What did the Brisbane diocese of the Anglican Church say? We have quoted them in our report. They said:

… the Wild Rivers legislation in Queensland negatively impacts the wellbeing of the Indigenous population within the Cape York Peninsula area as it reduces the ability of Cape York Indigenous communities to engage with the real economy.

This is a church group in Queensland that have put forward their views, and I hope that the Labor Party and those in Queensland consider them seriously and lobby their federal members and senators to support the coalition’s bill.

What has happened in terms of attracting investments since these wild rivers declarations were made in Queensland? It has been demonstrated recently. Five days after the making of the Wenlock basin wild river declaration on 4 June, Cape Alumina Ltd announced that it had placed its $1.2 billion Pisolite Hills bauxite mine and port project in west Cape York Peninsula under review. That means it is on hold, stalled, with no further investment, jobs growth or opportunities for Indigenous communities on the Cape York Peninsula. A day later, Matilda Zircon announced that it was relinquishing its exploration tenements and applications in the Cape York Peninsula. This is bad news for Far North Queensland. We need to turn this around to provide opportunities for the future.

We have a section in our report on the development applications lodged to date. In recent correspondence Balkanu highlighted the adverse impact on Indigenous community vegetable gardens for people with residences included within the high preservation area either side of the declared river. They said that a community vegetable garden within a high preservation area is only permissible if it does not involve clearing of vegetation. It is difficult to imagine circumstances on Cape York where a community vegetable garden could be established without some clearing of vegetation. Indeed, that is a very persuasive argument. High preservation areas have in almost all declarations been declared to the maximum of one kilometre either side of a declared wild river and its major tributaries with no scientific justification. The best soils for community gardens are within this area.

Of course, the coalition senators expressed concern about this, about the intrusion into native title landowners’ ability to use their land in whatever manner they see fit and about community vegetable gardens, particularly in circumstances where the proposed use is intended to improve physical and social wellbeing. The regulatory complexity is set out in our report, too. Under the Queensland regime it is very bad indeed. The Cape York Land Council made submissions in which they had very persuasive arguments. The scheme injected high levels of uncertainty and complexity, and it was clearly shown that Indigenous native title landowners in wild river areas had not been provided with the knowledge and resources they need to navigate and work within the wild rivers regulatory scheme. We do not want that. We do not want uncertainty. We want to provide economic and social opportunities for those in these areas. Two years ago, the Prime Minister at the time, Mr Rudd, in his apology to Australia’s Indigenous people stated that for Australians:

… symbolism is important but, unless the great symbolism of reconciliation is accompanied by an even greater substance, it is little more than a clanging gong. It is not sentiment that makes history; it is our actions that make history.

I call on Ms Gillard, as the Prime Minister, to get behind this bill and show that action is more important than words—not just to be all talk and no action. Labor certainly has not backed its rhetoric with action and that promise, unfortunately, has not been delivered; it has not been honoured. This is an opportunity to back up that apology, which had bipartisan support from both sides of the parliament. This bill provides an opportunity to support the Closing the Gap initiative. As Tony Abbott said when he introduced the bill:

… on the same day that the Rudd government subscribed to the International Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Bligh government in Queensland applied the wild rivers legislation to the significant rivers of Cape York—effectively blocking Aboriginal people from developing their land in the catchments of the Archer, Stewart and Lockhart rivers in Cape York.

That is well noted and, of course, it has extended further than that as a result of these definitional issues. We in the coalition are very concerned. We have raised concerns about the full or partial abrogation of native title rights. We have noted that these buffer zones effectively become lock-up areas. We call on Labor to back up the rhetoric. We call on Ms Gillard to act in support of those in Far North Queensland—those Indigenous communities who want to have a future—and support this bill.