Senate Report highlights Tony Abbott’s flawed Wild Rivers agenda
Environment and Resource Management Minister Kate Jones has welcomed the Commonwealth Senate Report into the Coalition’s flawed Wild Rivers Bill to overturn Wild River Declarations in Queensland.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Environment and Resource Management Minister Kate Jones has welcomed the Commonwealth Senate Report into the Coalition’s flawed Wild Rivers Bill to overturn Wild River Declarations in Queensland.
Ms Jones said the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee had concluded that the Bill does nothing to economically and socially empower Indigenous communities.
The Committee concludes that: • “…the Bill is poorly constructed and confusing. • Key terms and concepts are poorly defined and in some cases make no sense. • The processes proposed are unworkable as well as being ill-advised. • If implemented, the Bill would result in bad policy outcomes, as well as legal uncertainty for all stakeholders. • This Bill is a rehash of an earlier Bill, which suffered from major problems, and this attempt to address a small number of those problems has resulted in an even worse piece of proposed legislation, particularly when it comes to defining who the Bill seeks to provide veto powers to and how they would be exercised.”
“This report reinforces our Government’s long-stated position that Tony Abbott’s anti-Wild Rivers agenda is fatally flawed,” Ms Jones said.
“The Bill introduced by the Coalition into the Senate is exactly the same as a Bill Mr Abbott has introduced into the House of Representatives.
“It is a poorly drafted piece of legislation only designed to destroy Wild Rivers.
“It is based on a flawed premise that Wild River declarations stop economic development.
“We have always sought to ensure the Wild Rivers legislation remains practical and responsive to indigenous concerns.
“In fact, our Wild Rivers framework has been an area where we have introduced reforms to indigenous economic development which are leading edge in Australia, such as committing to Indigenous water reserves in the Gulf and Cape York wild river areas, and establishing the Wild River Rangers program which is providing employment and developing skills relevant to the broader economy.”
Ms Jones said Tony Abbott wants to reverse this important work.
“This is reflected in the Senate Committee’s report which stated: ‘Indeed, insofar as the Bill calls into question the future of wild river rangers, the Bill may actually serve to undo some of the good work currently being done.’
“If the Coalition’s Bill was implemented, it would put 40 wild river ranger jobs at risk,” Ms Jones said.
“Simply put, and as stated by the Committee, this Bill is worse than the first one introduced by the Coalition last year.”
Ms Jones said unlike the Opposition, the Bligh Government continues to listen and seeks to improve its implementation of Wild Rivers in a culturally appropriate way.
“This is where the real attentions of our Federal Parliament should be focussed and, as always, I continue to discuss this with people who have a genuine commitment to indigenous economic development and environmental protection.”
Media contact: 3239 0818
Related Content
Published by:
Release Date
This story was released on 2011-05-17. Please make sure to visit the official company or organization web site to learn more about the original release date. See our disclaimer for additional information.