Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has claimed “opportunists” are making “false claims” to membership of Indigenous groups to scuttle resource projects seeking environmental approval.
The shadow minister for Indigenous Australians made the claim on Wednesday while defending a Coalition plan to designate which Indigenous groups would need to be consulted by project proponents, as revealed by the shadow resources minister, Susan McDonald, at a Minerals Week event.
Price said the Coalition would look to reform existing rules “so that what we don’t, in fact, get are those who are making false claims to try to bring an end to development projects in those areas”.
“We want to make sure there is less opportunity for opportunists to come along and put an end to projects, particularly when as we’ve seen the Environmental Defenders Office exploit Indigenous Australians for the purpose of shutting down projects,” Price told reporters in Canberra.
Price said the problem of people falsely claiming to be part of a group “is an issue that is brought up quite regularly [and] is of concern to Aboriginal groups”.
“There is an unnatural, incredible increase on those who call themselves Indigenous and establish themselves within certain groups.
“We’re hearing the calls from Aboriginal people across the country who are sick of the exploitation and we need to have it sorted out one way or another.”
Asked if the increasing proportion of people identifying as Indigenous needs to be tested, Price responded: “It is an absolute problem. This is why we’ve got to clean up the whole process, clean up these organisations … and focus on supporting marginalised Australians not on the basis of race but on the basis of need.
“Because of the opportunities that exist, there are those that would seek to advantage of those opportunities,” she said.
The Albanese government is already developing a national standard for First Nations engagement as part of its proposed environmental laws, which will clarify for proponents which Indigenous groups need to be consulted.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said business “needs to know who they need to consult – ‘who are the right people to talk for Country?’”
Plibersek told the Minerals Council event “engagement requirements need to be clear – so everyone knows when the process is complete” and the process “can’t be open-ended”.
“That’s what the First Nations engagement standard under our new laws will need to do – provide certainty about requirements and certainty about who to talk to.”
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, told Guardian Australia it appeared the Coalition would “do everything and anything” to “obstruct” Plibersek’s decision on the mine and that she was “deeply disappointed in Coalition senators for opening [the debate] up”.
“What truly concerns me here is the way the language is going towards who is Indigenous and who is not,” McCarthy said.
“This kind of rhetoric has an impact on people’s lives. There are still people today who are suffering from government policies of the past which said who is Indigenous and who is not.
“The use of this kind of language is unnecessary, it is harmful and I call on them to stop.”
Earlier, McDonald said the recognition of Indigeneity is unreasonably impacting the prosperity of Australia and should be regulated to stop it being “weaponised” against the mining industry.
Addressing the Minerals Council’s annual conference in Canberra on Wednesday, McDonald vowed a Coalition government would designate recognised Indigenous groups so the mining industry knew who to deal with when negotiating over proposed developments if the Albanese government failed to do so.
“It must give industry the legal certainty about who comprises the recognised local Indigenous community,” she said. “The resources sector cannot be left to guess.”
Earlier this week, a spokesperson for McDonald said “the Coalition’s changes would not be in relation to a standalone race definition but a definition of which groups had standing to speak to Indigenous heritage in a local area”.
McDonald’s comments about Indigeneity were prompted by Plibersek’s rejection of the location of a proposed tailings dam as part of the McPhillamys goldmine project, near the town of Blayney in the New South Wales central west. McDonald called it a “frankly horrifying” decision.
Plibersek based her decision on evidence and advice from the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation. But the opposition argues she ignored the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, which had originally opposed the proposed development but later shifted its position to neutral.
McDonald said the land council members were the traditional owners of the area and their views should have been given greatest weight.
In question time on Monday Plibersek defended her decision on the McPhillamys goldmine, saying the former environment minister and deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, had consulted “the same group of traditional owners” in relation to a project 50km away. The basis of both decisions was “the same”, to protect cultural heritage, she said.
Speaking to Guardian Australia after her address, McDonald appeared to question Ley’s reliance on advice from the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation to protect a sacred site on Bathurst’s Mount Panorama/Wahluu from a go-kart track.
“The Orange local land council, they are recognised. They have authority on that country. I’m unclear as to why authority was given to another group.”
Guardian Australia has sought comment from the Environmental Defenders Office.
