An Aboriginal cultural center will be built on a site between the Derbarl Yerrigan, also known as the Swan River, and the Perth Concert Hall to showcase Western Australia’s indigenous culture.
Key points:
The center will be located between the Perth Concert Hall and Swan River
The state and federal governments provided $104 million in seed funding
Premier Mark McGowan says he is “very excited” by the location
The location was chosen by the Whadjuk Aboriginal Cultural Center Cultural Authority, a body set up to provide advice on the cultural center and a best possible site.
The committee’s Barry Winmar said the center would give Aboriginal people a strong voice and show Aboriginal culture in its best light.
“It gives us an opportunity to tell our stories, to tell our songlines and showcase what our culture looks like through art, dance and through print and media,” Mr Winmar said.
The site was culturally significant as the location of watering holes and tributaries of the river.
Barry Winmar says the site has a special significance for WA’s Indigenous people. (ABC News: James Carmody)
“There were walking trails along there. We had a really strong connection with the water and the land,” Mr Winmar said.
It was also close to where Whadjuk Noongar leader Yellagonga, who died in 1843, was buried.
The Commonwealth government has previously provided $50 million seed funding for the project, and the WA government $54 million, as part of an election commitment.
The Terrace Road carpark, located between the Swan River and the Perth Concert Hall, has been chosen as the site to build the Aboriginal Cultural Centre. (ABC News: James Carmody)
Premier Mark McGowan said the cultural center was due to be finished by 2028 and will likely include major private sector and philanthropic contributions to create a “world-standard facility”.
“We want tourists from Australia and around the world to come and visit and understand and enjoy that experience,” Mr McGowan said.
“It’s a great opportunity for understanding and for creating jobs and also for that great sense of identity that will come with it.
“So we’re very excited about this location.”
Patrick Gorman, seen here at a smoking ceremony during the announcement, believes the site could become an iconic attraction. (ABC News: James Carmody)
Federal minister and WA MP Patrick Gorman thought it could be WA’s answer to the Opera House in Sydney.
“This is about giving Western Australia something that expresses the full breadth of Aboriginal culture,” Mr Gorman said.
City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas said he was excited the cultural center would be located in the city.
“It’s hard to believe that in 2022 our nation does not have an Aboriginal cultural center and museum of this size and shape and standing, that we are anticipating will now be built,” Mr Zempilas said.
“So I’m absolutely thrilled that the City of Perth is likely to be home to this facility. It’s very important for our country, for our state and in particular for our city.”
After a six-week winter recess, West Australian politicians will return to parliament today to start the last half of the sitting year.
Key points:
The priorities include reforms in the wake of Annaliesse Ugle’s death
Improving operations at Perth’s casino will also be high on the agenda
The opposition is keeping the spotlight on recent controversies
Plenty has happened since they last agreed, including another COVID-19 wave and controversies involving the Agriculture Minister and Attorney-General.
Even still, the government insists a cabinet reshuffle is not on the cards, with its focus instead on five priorities for the 33 sitting days ahead.
At the top of their list for reforms are long-awaited changes to WA’s Bail Act, largely in response to the death of Annaliesse Ugle in 2020.
The 11-year-old took her own life after the man accused of sexual assaulting her was released on bail.
The reforms are currently sitting in the lower house and will change the act in a variety of ways, including when a person is charged with child sex offences.
Labor will use its majority in parliament to pass long-awaited changes to WA’s Bail Act.(AAP Image/David Gray)
Once the new legislation is passed, anyone deciding bail in that situation will have to specifically consider a number of factors, including the “physical and emotional wellbeing” of the child victim.
Another provision will mean that where a child victim raises concerns about their safety and welfare if the accused is not kept in custody, the person deciding bail must be presented with that information by the prosecutor and take it into consideration.
When he introduced the bill into parliament, Attorney-General John Quigley said it struck the right balance “between elevating the voices and concerns of child victims of sexual abuse and maintaining the precepts of our justice system”.
Crown Perth reforms also high priority
It has been around five months since the WA government was handed the Crown Casino Royal Commission’s final report, containing 59 recommendations on how to clean up money laundering, criminal infiltration and problem gambling.
The first swathe of laws designed to start chipping away at those recommendations are yet to pass parliament but are on the priority list.
The reforms are aimed at tackling money laundering and problem gambling at Perth’s casino.(ABC News: Hugh Sando)
The bill is also still in the lower house, having been introduced just before parliament broke for the winter break.
Once passed, it will establish an independent monitor who will oversee the casino for a two-year remediation period, as recommended in the report.
Questions have been raised about the utility of that monitor though, with one gambling researcher raising concerns the casino would return to “business as usual” at the end of that two-year period.
The bill will also increase maximum penalties under the Casino Control Act from $100,000 to $100 million, and allow the minister to appoint an independent chair of the Gaming and Wagering Commission.
While there are more than a dozen other bills currently on the books for MPs to consider, the government is particularly keen to see three of them pass soon.
One will implement recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse by requiring about 4,000 organizations to report allegations or convictions of child abuse.
The WA government is keen to push through a bill to provide greater protection to child abuse victims.(abcnews)
That is on the list to be debated in the upper house this fortnight, and once passed will also give the state’s ombudsman oversight of how those organizations handle child abuse complaints and allow for independent investigations.
Another bill will provide greater protection for owner-drivers and other small businesses in the road freight sector, including minimum periods for contract termination.
Finally, there’s a bill to allow for the construction of a number of Metronet projects along the Armadale Line, including removing level crossings and raising tracks, and extending the line to Byford.
Metronet projects along the Armadale line will benefit from the proposed legislation.(Supplied: WA Government)
Opposition piles pressure on ministers
While that is what the government wants to focus on, the state opposition is keen to keep the pressure on a number of ministers who have been in the headlines for the wrong reasons over the winter break.
Among them is Alannah MacTiernan, who apologized after what she described as “clumsy” comments about foot and mouth disease, including that if it landed in WA it could make domestic milk and meat cheaper.
Then there is Mr Quigley, who had to correct evidence he gave in the defamation case between Mr McGowan and Queensland mining magnate Clive Palmer earlier this year.
It led to Justice Michael Lee describing Mr Quigley’s evidence as “all over the shop”, although he did make the point that “being a confused witness is a quite different thing from being a dishonest one”.
Justice Michael Lee described John Quigley’s evidence as “confused and confusing.”(ABC News: Eliza Laschon)
Even still, it prompted Deputy Liberal Leader Libby Mettam to yesterday label Mr Quigley a “lame duck.”
“But fair questions could be asked of other members and ministers in the McGowan government cabinet,” she said.
Opposition Leader Mia Davies also piled on the pressure.
Mia Davies says several WA ministers have fallen short of the public’s expectations in recent weeks.(ABC News: Keane Bourke)
“The Premier has an Attorney-General that is confused and confusing, an Agriculture Minister who has lost the confidence of the industry, a Health Minister that has overseen the highest ever ambulance ramping in the state, and a Housing Minister with no housing,” she said.
“It just doesn’t add up when you consider the strength of numbers Labor have in the parliament and the wealth the Premier has at his fingertips as Treasurer.”
Metronet ‘behind schedule and over budget’
Ms Davies said the opposition would also “maintain its focus on a Labor Government that is failing to deliver on promises made to the people of Western Australia”.
“Their major project, Metronet, is behind schedule and over budget, and the cracks are starting to emerge in cabinet as the emergency of COVID diminishes and the spin and rhetoric from the government starts to wear thin with the public,” she said.
But the opposition will also have to contend with its resources being pulled in multiple directions, as the North West Central by-election to replace former Nationals MP Vince Catania approaches.
Now that he has officially handed in his resignation, a date for the poll will be set — expected to be sometime in mid-September.
It creates a tricky situation, with both opposition parties competing for the same votes.
