Cash Before the Environment

In Perth, two volunteer tree-planting events have been cancelled because the local Aboriginal corporation demanded a payment of $2.5 million to approve the activity.

This was made possible thanks to the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act, which came into effect two weeks ago.

Incredibly, the goal of the local groups was to plant 5,500 seedlings along the Canning River, thereby improving the land and environment, something that Aboriginal activists regularly claim.

In this case, and many others, it seems money is more important than anything else.

Local MP Andrew Hastie wrote:

"The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage laws are only two weeks old, and already an Indigenous corporation is using them to demand millions of dollars...It's time for Roger Cook (WA Premier) to scrap these divisive laws."

This experience will only focus people's minds on the potential perils of enshrining an Aboriginal Voice in our national constitution.