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Hancock Agriculture chairwoman Gina Rinehart said the summit was an opportunity for governments to better understand those living and working outside our cities. “Eighty-five per cent of Australians live in large urban locations, but we should not forget the engine room of our country, that being outside the cities in mining and agriculture and all of those who work in our bush,” she said. “They in turn make possible jobs for the many businesses the primary industries support; the truckies, the shops, even accountants, legals, tax advisers and many more.”

The backlash against the state legislation has been led by farmers, miners and property developers, and whipped up by the Liberals and National parties, which both oppose the Voice. Almost 30,000 people have signed a petition urging the Western Australia government to delay the legislation for at least six months. Pastoralists and Graziers’ Association president Tony Seamark, who filed the petition alongside Neil Thomson, the Liberal shadow planning minister, said the legislation has created an “intolerable” situation for landowners.

In the association’s submission during consultation, the group expressed concerns for its 2085 members. “This will have significant detrimental flow-on effects. The processes . . . will severely impact prospectors, sending some completely out of business. “APLA does not support the unworkable process . . . due to the catastrophic effect it will have on prospecting.”

The unachievable “net zero” is a massive con. Our piddling contribution to reducing emissions of CO2 is wiped by the growth in emissions-producing power plants in China, Africa and elsewhere. Oh, and it’s destroying our economy too. But it wasn’t enough for Labor and the Greens and the Teals to have signed up to this humbug. They went further and backed the Voice referendum which, if passed, would give a blank cheque to anyone claiming a skerrick of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage to challenge any law and administrative action, or non-action, on the grounds that they may be affected.

He said while “Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal interests are dependent on effective Aboriginal cultural heritage laws”, WA’s plans were not the way to do it. “The clear lesson from Juukan Gorge was that the protection and maintenance of genuine Aboriginal cultural heritage required approval processes that were transparent, detailed and well known,” he said. Senator Smith is calling for the proposed July 1 start date to be put back. “Premier Cook’s belligerence threatens the future prosperity of WA,” he said. “There is no shame in pressing the pause button for six months to allow a more comprehensive implementation and consultation program to undertaken.”

Gina Rinehart says adding a granny flat to a large backyard could be held up by contentious Indigenous heritage laws set to come into effect in Western Australia next month. Mrs Rinehart joins critics of the proposal who have described it as “shambolic” and said it would probably hold up new mines and food production. Australia’s richest person also hit out at the federal government’s plan to boost immigration, saying it had no mandate for the policy and should instead ease restrictions on the hours worked by pensioners and students.

The modern history of the Hancocks is well known but earlier generations also had a big impact on our State’s development It is quite a picture. The striking white horses kick up dust as they work in unison to pull the coach through the WA outback. Five men sit atop the coach and a lone rider keeps pace alongside. The photo presents a fascinating reminder of how once supplies, mail and people were carried across vast stretches of WA.

Roger Cook must have been channelling an inner Albo when he faced his first parliamentary question time as Premier. Cook was confronted by a request from Opposition Leader Shane Love to postpone the implementation of Labor’s new Indigenous cultural heritage laws because of widespread community unrest. Love, the leader of the National Party, which holds seats only in regional WA, was responding to one of the biggest protest petitions ever presented to the Parliament, demanding a delay.

WA Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash has described the new Aboriginal heritage laws as an “unprecedented attack on private property rights” that could grind the State to a halt. She says it offers a glimpse into the “chaos” that an Indigenous Voice to Parliament could unleash. Senator Cash has told Premier Roger Cook to postpone the July 1 start date and “go back to the drawing board”.

June 2023