Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for External Territories) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, you have no idea what consultation means: talking to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people around the country. The claims that have been made by the minister are patently false. Forty-two per cent of my electorate are Aboriginal people. I will guarantee that not one of them is aware that this bill is before the parliament today or what is in it. Yet we are expected to believe that somehow or other this decision is being made based on informed discussion with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Nothing could be further from the truth. Minister, you treat Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with absolute disrespect with the way in which you are trying to get us to go through this legislation today.

We understand that this court decision has made some issues for us. We appreciate that and we understand there is an issue about validating acts and agreements which have now been potentially invalidated as a result of the court decision. But that does not obviate the need for us to talk to people and consult properly.

I ask the government: you have a committee of this House which was actually meeting an hour ago, so why wouldn't you have charged it with the responsibility of doing some work and then coming back to this House before the next sitting? Why not? Is it because you think only the Senate does work around here? What do you think we do here? Do you think I should go back to my electorate and go around the community asking people what they think of this legislation and its importance, and getting the views of people who may want to express it to me?

We know that the native title rep body sees some significant issues around this, but we also know they have a responsibility, as we do, to talk with and represent the interests of native title holders wherever they might be around this country. We cannot be said to be doing that by rushing this legislation through this parliament today. We cannot be said to have done that.

As I have said in a previous contribution, I doubt that the Minister for Indigenous Affairs feels enlightened by what is going on here or, indeed, believes it is a great idea. I am sure he would believe—without wanting to put words in his mouth, of course—that there needs to be proper consultation before we hurry this legislation through any chamber of this parliament, let alone passing it through here. The minister has just admitted that there has been no consultation prior to this bill being put before the parliament. He is saying that the consultation is going to happen after the fact—that post the passage of this legislation in this House there will be consultation.

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