INDIGENOUS heritage inspectors will soon be reinstated by the
State Government, regaining their emergency powers to protect
culturally significant sites but not their former independence.
Two months ago, an emergency declaration was controversially
used by a volunteer indigenous heritage inspector, Vicki
Nicholson-Brown, to delay the removal of the "sacred fire" lit by
protesters in the Kings Domain.
Although a Supreme Court judge upheld the order, soon afterwards
all 48 of the state's volunteer inspectors were suspended by the
State Government.
Aboriginal Affairs Minister Gavin Jennings concedes that the
inspectors' suspension was brought forward by the sacred fire
controversy. But he said it was only a temporary measure, as the
Government moved to replace the voluntary workforce with paid staff
to enforce the state's new Aboriginal Heritage Act.
"We introduced the bill in February with plans for inspectors
being full-time professionals within the public service. By the
time the bill passed in early May the (Camp Sovereignty) fire had
grown in prominence," Mr Jennings told The Age.
While the number of inspectors has yet to be decided, Mr
Jennings said they would work across the state and retain their
emergency declaration powers, now renamed stop orders.
The inspectors will not need approval to impose a stop order,
which can halt developments for 30 days, but Mr Jennings now has a
new power to revoke an inspector's decision "if in my assessment
it's not valid".
"My concern is if the law is brought into disrepute, it demeans
the standing of cultural heritage in the eyes of the community, in
particular by those putting the cultural heritage at risk," he
said.
Mr Jennings said he hoped that some former volunteer inspectors
could be employed in the new roles, but he would not rule out also
employing non-indigenous staff if they had the right
qualifications.
Mrs Nicholson-Brown, one of several former heritage inspectors
considering legal action against the Government, said the
Government should "butt out" of managing indigenous sites.
"It's not for politicians to decide what's culturally
significant and what's not. This gives too much control to the
minister," she said.
Mrs Nicholson-Brown said she also opposed non-Aboriginal
inspectors.
"There have been non-Aboriginal inspectors in the past I've
respected because … they've shown respect to the community, so
I'm not being critical of them. But it's not really appropriate,
and any whitefellas appointed by the minister are going to end up
coming to the blackfellas to say 'What the hell do we do?' This is
just taking away our rights … to look after our own
affairs."
