Just read the details in this legislation about to be passed in WA.
Farmers in Western Australia are furious about sweeping new cultural heritage laws that will require them to pay an Aboriginal consultant up to $160 an hour to obtain permits to do anything on their land that might disturb more than 50 centimetres of soil.
anyone on more than 1100 square metres of land will be required to apply for a permit from their LACHS before carrying out certain activities, such as digging fences, planting trees or clearing tracks.
Penalties for damaging a cultural heritage site range from $25,000 to $1 million for individuals and $250,000 to $10 million for corporations, as well as jail time.But any maintenance or demolition that involves removing more than four kilograms of material, disturbing more than 10 square metres of ground or excavating to a depth of more than 50 centimetres may require a permit from the LACHS.
Tier two allows for up to 20 kilograms of material, disturbing up to 200 square metres of ground or excavating to a depth of one metre, while tier three includes activities such as blasting or drilling.
The landowner will be required to pay the LACHS to assess their application.
Under the fee guidelines, one senior Aboriginal consultant — defined as “an Aboriginal person who is recognised within their community as being senior and as having higher levels of knowledge, expertise, skills and authority in relation to [Aboriginal cultural heritage]” — can charge up to $160 an hour, or $1200 per day.
A LACHS chief executive can charge up to $280 an hour, while “other expert service providers” can charge up to $300 an hour.
“This guy is going to charge me from the minute he leaves his office in town to when he gets back, I may even be obliged to pay for travel and accommodation — there’s no end to it,” he said. “The minimal fee is $80 an hour but it can run up to $450 an hour, they will determine the level. The power vested in these groups is amazing.”
The WA government is refusing to delay the commencement of the new regulations in two weeks’ time despite widespread uproar from the farming and pastoralist community.https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/furious-wa-farmers-fear-sweeping-new-aboriginal-cultural-heritage-laws-will-hold-us-to-ransom/news-story/6886462f8ef6f2dac076d86a6704cea0
