00:00 In government, Ben Wyatt led the charge for reforms to WA's Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
00:07 laws after the destruction of Djukun Gorge.
00:10 And continued to defend them in the face of growing criticism.
00:13 He's been silent since they were scrapped by the Premier, but campaigning for the voice
00:17 to Parliament acknowledged the backflip was almost inevitable.
00:23 In the end, the consensus fractured and you need a consensus to make this kind of reform.
00:29 So I'm not surprised the government made the decision at the end.
00:32 As the end of the laws neared, it was farmers and pastoralists who were the biggest critics,
00:37 something the former Aboriginal Affairs Minister says he found surprising.
00:41 I was disappointed of course because I thought after a lot of work, four years of work, where
00:47 we had a consensus from the pastoralists, the farmers, the prospectors, the miners,
00:52 very rare that you get a consensus on a good outcome.
00:55 But ultimately, clearly the regulations went too far.
00:59 We were asked to support the Cultural Heritage Act based on the intent and we were promised
01:05 with the details later and we saw how that went.
01:08 With the voice similarly, the community is crying out for further details.
01:13 A month on, the focus is now on the October 14 referendum.
01:18 A yes vote shakes the system up in Aboriginal policy and ensures that we get a much better
01:22 outcome in the implementation and development of policy.
01:26 The only thing you're going to see for those people who aren't directly engaged is a better
01:29 spend of the taxpayers' dollar.
01:30 There are already a number of different advisory groups and bodies that inform governments
01:38 on better outcomes for Aboriginal people.
01:42 What we need is for the federal government and the state government to actually listen
01:47 to those concerns.
01:48 In just over a month, voters will decide if they agree.
01:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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