Finding the balance between heritage and industry

Issue date: Thursday, 17 June 2021

House of Representatives media release header

The Northern Australia Committee will hear from a range of stakeholders to listen to their perspectives on finding the right balance between protecting cultural heritage and allowing industry to operate in Northern Australia.

Representatives of the North Queensland Land Council, Queensland Resources Council, Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation, Jack Green, Nurrdalinji Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining and Queensland University will be appearing.

The public hearing is part of the inquiry into the destruction of Indigenous heritage sites at Juukan Gorge and will be held by video/teleconference to continue the committee’s investigation of cultural heritage issues in Queensland and in the Northern Territory.

A key issue for Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation is the interaction between the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld) and the Native Title Act 1993, particularly the rights that should be granted once a Native Title claim is determined.

The Queensland Resources Council is determined to strike the right balance between protecting cultural heritage and providing certainty to industry.  

Committee Chair Warren Entsch is eager to engage with a broad range of stakeholders in order to ascertain how to protect cultural heritage while also giving certainty to industry.

‘Bringing different stakeholders together to understand their perspectives is the only way to prevent the destruction of heritage’, Mr Entsch said.

A program for the public hearing is available on the Committee’s website.

Public hearing details

Date: Friday, 18 June 2021
Time: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm AEST
Location: by video/teleconference

The hearings will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

Further details of the inquiry, including terms of reference, can be found on the Committee’s website.

Media enquiries

Hon Warren Entsch MP, Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia
warren.entsch.mp@aph.gov.au
02 6277 4803

For background information

Committee Secretariat
02 6277 4162
jscna@aph.gov.au

For more information about this Committee, you can visit its website. On the site, you can make a submission to an inquiry, read other submissions and get details for upcoming public hearings. You can also track the Committee and receive email updates by clicking on the blue ‘Track Committee’ button in the bottom right hand corner of the page.

House of Representatives media release header


Top

We acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of country throughout Australia and acknowledge their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the elders past, present and emerging.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website may contain images and voices of deceased people.