Article by Dan Jervis-Bardy and Katina Curtis courtesy of the West Australian.

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”.

The demand came as Greens senator Dorinda Cox pleaded with politicians not to weaponise the new laws for their own political gain.

The furore over the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act has spilled into the federal sphere, amid warnings a messy rollout of the regime could weaken support for the Voice in the State.

Resources Minister Madeleine King rubbished those suggestions on Tuesday as she strongly endorsed the new laws and the Cook Government’s handling of their implementation.

But Senator Cash – the most senior WA Liberal in parliament – has launched a blistering attack on the changes.

“These laws are an unprecedented attack on private property rights,” she told The West.

“The act is ambiguous and unwieldy and threatens drowning Western Australian landowners in a deluge of red tape.”

Most of the angst among miners, farmers, and property developers revolves around new consultation obligations, which puts the onus on landowners to ensure they are not impacting on sites of Indigenous significance when embarking on major development or use changes.

Senator Cash said applying the new requirements to properties over 1100sqm would mean thousands of properties in suburban Perth and surrounding areas could be captured.

“There is real uncertainty about what activities on your own property are exempt from the act,” she said.

The Shadow Attorney-General said the Cook Government’s “chaotic” rollout of the new regime threatened to bring the State to a “grinding halt”.

“It is extremely worrying that this is an indication of the sort of chaos that a Canberra based Voice will bring if the referendum is successful.”

Senator Cash’s comments go much further than her State Liberal and National colleagues, who, while extremely critical of the Cook Government’s handling of the rollout, remain supportive of the “intent” of the cultural heritage protection laws.

Weighing into the debate for the first time, Senator Cox urged politicians not to use the contentious new laws as a campaigning weapon.

“What I’m urging people to do is not utilise it in that way, and actually see that the protection and preservation of Aboriginal cultural heritage belongs to all of us.”

The Coalition has claimed the Voice would bring federal policymaking to a halt because of the provision allowing it to provide advice to executive government as well as Parliament.

It continued to question Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney over what issues the Voice would not provide advice on.

She said the advisory body would focus on making practical differences to close the gap in outcomes for Indigenous people.

I sincerely hope and call for Australians to vote Yes.

“I am not interested in culture wars; I am interested in closing the gap,” she said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the second reading speech for the bill, “that has legal consequences”, made it clear the advice would only be about matters that affected Indigenous Australians differently.

“I say to all Australians, Parliaments pass laws but it is people who make history and we have an opportunity to advance reconciliation in the last quarter of this year,” he said.

“I sincerely hope and call for Australians to vote Yes.”