The following is a contributor in todays "The Australian".
"The Aboriginal Heritage Act in WA due to come into effect on July 1st is a sign of things to come. Under this Act any soil disturbance over 50mm deep is not to be done without a permit being issued by a Local Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Service (LACHS). These services will charge between $150 and $450 per hour to do a cultural heritage survey before farmers can be issued with a permit to disturb the soil. This will capture such activities as building a fence, sinking a dam, pushing up gravel to construct a farm track, deep ripping, clay delving, ripping a pipeline or ripping a tree line and planting the trees. Building infrastructure will also require a permit. Farmers will be hamstrung and fleeced by this new legislation. It will legislate extorsion. It will not only affect farmers but developers of land including miners and local governments. Strangely enough blocks of land smaller than 1,100 square metres will not be captured. Could it be it is impossible for any Aboriginal cultural issues to arise on small blocks or perhaps that too many voters would be affected thus causing an electoral backlash?"
If as a country we go down this path, then the country is stuffed.
