By PETER ROWE
The Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation says it is confident concerns about a ‘No Objections’ clause in in the 21-year-old Burrup Maitland Industrial Estate Agreement will be resolved through agreement making they are currently leading.
Speaking after he addressed a Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee inquiry hearing in Perth this week, MAC CEO Kim Wood confirmed that MAC’s position that clause 4.8 in the BMIEA is offensive and outdated.
“The ‘no objections’ clause was of its time and is something that would be unlikely to be included in any Indigenous agreement entered into with the current State Government,” Mr Wood said.
“All levels of Government are demonstrating a better way to resolve MAC’s concerns. We are positive that clause 4.8 will be overtaken or nullified one way or other through the Strategic Agreement Making (SAM) Project that MAC is leading, with support from all levels of government and the main industry organisations active on Murujuga.
“The agreement-making project is aligned with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the principle of free, prior and informed consent.
“Support for it was confirmed through the Statement of Intent signed by the Federal Environment Minister, Premier of Western Australia and State ministers, and CEOs at the
City of Karratha, Rio Tinto, Woodside, Yara Pilbara, Perdaman and Horizon Power in February.
“The Statement of Intent commits the signatories to follow UNDRIP and FPIC principles to consensually form a Heads of Agreement, and ultimately individual bilateral contracts with industry, that will place MAC on an equal footing in future decision-making about land use on Murujuga country.
“We expect that this in turn will see a range of individual consensual contracts with industry that take precedence over clause 4.8 in the BMIEA.
“Currently, clause 4.8 prevents MAC from objecting to development proposals for sites in the Burrup industrial estate that were identified for industry use by the BMIEA, although it has never stopped MAC from accessing State and Commonwealth legislation to object to damage, destruction or any deleterious impact to cultural heritage values within any development footprint on Murujuga.
WA Premier Roger Cook advised MAC that the State Government will transfer several small islands, including Low, Sandy, Intercourse and West Mid Intercourse islands,
to the Dampier Archipelago islands reserve network for future joint management by MAC.
This news follows the transfer, earlier this month, by the Premier of a large, 2,300 hectare island, known as West Intercourse Island, to the island reserve network for future joint management by MAC.
