Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Native Title Act was passed by the Keating government in 1993. It gives legislative form to the historic High Court Mabo decision. This year we celebrate 25 years since that decision was handed down, which is obviously a historic moment for our country. I think it is important to put some of these things on the record. I want to acknowledge my colleague, the member for Lingiari, because in 1993 he was instrumental in supporting the Aboriginal negotiators, who spent months walking the halls of parliament trying to broker an acceptable and fair legislative response to the High Court's native title decision. The member for Lingiari has a long and very significant role in supporting and fighting for the aspirations of our first nations. So it was as he helped to broker what became the Native Title Act in 1993, which was a seminal time in our history as a nation, and a seminal and proud time for Labor. In fact, we have worked out that my current office here in Parliament House was often used during this time by negotiators, many of them proud Aboriginal leaders from the Top End.

The Native Title Act followed on from the Northern Territory land rights act—a Labor policy passed into legislation by a Liberal Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, in 1976. It was the first attempt by an Australian government to legally recognise the Aboriginal system of land ownership, and it put into law the concept of inalienable freehold title. It continues to inspire, and I am very proud of the role the Northern Territory has played in the ongoing battle for land and native title rights, whether that be the Yolngu people and the Gove case; the bark petition; the Wave Hill walk-off led by Gurindji man Vincent Lingiari; the Barunga Statement; or, closer to home and closer to my electorate, the Kenbi land claim, which took 37 years.

Since 1993 Labor has works to ensure that the Native Title Act continues to facilitate the recognition and protection of Indigenous land rights throughout our great nation. The McGlade decision of the full Federal Court invalidated over 100 existing ILUAs and introduced a great deal of uncertainty into negotiations for new ILUAs. Labor believes that the parliament should provide certainty to native title holders and users of the native title system while also protecting the integrity of that system. While Labor will support this bill as substantially amended, Labor is supporting only changes to the Native Title Act that will restore the legal status quo as it was prior to the recent Federal Court decision in McGlade. This means that ILUAs already entered into will be restored to the position they were in prior to McGlade and that future agreements will be negotiated under the same procedure.

The Turnbull government tried to rush its original legislation through the parliament without proper consultation. They tried to do this before there was a chance to properly consider its implications or to listen to the voices of native title holders and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations. Labor insisted on a full Senate inquiry so that these voices could be heard. As a result of consultations with Indigenous Australians and users of the native title system that followed, Labor has supported changes to the bill to narrow its effect. This is what native title holders have asked us to do. They have been our first concern throughout this process, as they always have been over the decades.

Importantly, Labor has blocked the government's attempt to give itself unfettered power over ILUAs. We have insisted on amendments that make sure that control rests with native title holders, not politicians here in Canberra. This is about respecting the decisions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and giving certainty to the agreements that native title holders have entered into. It is the right thing to do. The minister would do well to be a little bit humble from time to time, to listen to people and to make sure that proper consultation is done. We know that they have a bit of a tendency over that side of the House to grab as much unfettered power as they can, but Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians can depend on Labor, who will ensure that they are consulted and that their rights are properly protected.

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