Western Australia to scrap new law protecting Aboriginal heritage sites

The Djadjiling rock shelter at a Pilbara mine site in Western Australia, where a large cache of Aboriginal stone tools estimated to be up to 35,000 years old was discovered in 2008 [File: Australian Cultural Heritage Management handout via Reuters]

Western Australia will overturn recently enforced laws aimed at protecting Aboriginal cultural heritage sites following widespread opposition by farmers and small landowners, the state’s premier said.

The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act came into force on July 1 and was designed to prevent a repeat of the destruction witnessed at the 46-000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelter, which was demolished by the Anglo-Australian mining firm Rio Tinto during the expansion of an iron ore mine.