The bid to list the entire West Kimberly region as a heritage site has been seen by the Chamber of Minerals and Energy for Western Australia as an emotional over reaction. The Australian Heritage Council is making this demand of the federal government to put the brakes on any future mining projects in the region.
Nicole Roocke the director of the of Minerals and Energy for Western Australia said that she had asked the Environment Minister Tony Burke to delay a decision on the report submitted by the Australian Heritage Council to allow more time for consultation and research.
CME is disappointed by the lack of rigor in justifying the significance of heritage values and the reliance on emotion rather than evidence, diminishing the integrity of heritage listing and the heritage assessment process said Ms Roocke.
She felt that the listing of the entire West Kimberly region as a heritage site would be mocking the assessment process and ensure that the Aboriginal communities there were restricted to a lifetime of welfare dependency.
Ms Roocke said that they would be speaking to members of Parliament in Canberra about the need to defer the decision and about the need for a socioeconomic impact statement to be undertaken, to better understand and mitigate the negative impacts of such a vast area being heritage listed.
Mr Burke said that a heritage listing is not something that says no development but said that any development, if it is to occur, must be mindful of these heritage values. He added that the heritage values recommended were extraordinary and included Aboriginal rock art and the longest droving expedition.