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Completion of Kakadu National Park (Koongarra Project
Area Repeal) Bill 2013
Introduced into the House of
Representatives on 6 February 2013
Portfolio:
Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
1.1
This bill seeks
to repeal in its entirety the Koongarra Project Area Act 1981. This Act
enables the Koongarra area, which is surrounded by the Kakadu National Park, to
be excluded from the boundaries of the national park to accommodate future
mining prospects. The relevant section of the 1981 Act that would bring the Act
relevantly into force has never been proclaimed.
Compatibility with human
rights
1.2
The
self-contained statement of compatibility states that the bill does not engage
any applicable rights or freedoms and so is compatible with human rights.
1.3
The effect of
the bill is to include within the boundaries of the Kakadu National Park the
Koongarra Project Area. The statement of compatibility notes that this area
‘was excluded from the boundaries of the Kakadu National Park when it was
proclaimed in 1979. This exclusion was made to accommodate the prospect of
future mining activity. Since that time, a number of parties have pursued the
development of mining at Koongarra but no mining tenements have been granted.’
It notes that ‘[t]he Australian Government committed at the 2010 federal
election to protect Koongarra as part of Kakadu in line with the express views
of the traditional owner.’
1.4
Although not
mentioned in the explanatory memorandum or the statement of compatibility, in
June 2011 the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO, on nomination by the
Australian government, included the Koongarra Project Area on the World
Heritage Register as part of the Kakadu National Park listing under the UNESCO
Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural
Heritage.[1] Documentation before the World
Heritage Committee noted that:
The
Koongarra area is Aboriginal land. ... The Koongarra area includes the Nourlangie
rock art sites. This and the Ubirr rock art site, 50 kilometres to the
north-east, are the two major foci of rock art in the Park.
1.5
The committee
notes that, by providing for the inclusion of the Koongara area in the Kakadu
National Park and removing the possibility of mining, in accordance with the
wishes of the traditional owner, the bill will contribute to the promotion and
enjoyment of the rights of the traditional owner. This promotes the rights of
Indigenous peoples to self-determination and to participate in culture, and
rights of non-Indigenous people to benefit from culture.[2]
1.6
The
committee considers that this bill does not appear to give rise to human rights
concerns.
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