Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

As I understand it, though, you changed the offer to Tangentyere Council on 18 April by no longer requiring that people relinquish their entire lease. You actually ceded to their request that that they move to sublease just the residential areas to the Northern Territory government. That was the point that I was trying to make—that in fact this was a very late change and obviously a significant one because one of their concerns was having to give up the entire lease. So I do think that 18 April was very late in the piece, and it was at that point that you gave people a month to respond. I ask the minister: why in his opinion was he unable to get agreement with the council? What does he believe was the impediment to getting a negotiated outcome? What does the minister understand to be the problem that has not been able to be negotiated?

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