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

[by video link] This is my first time contributing virtually, so I hope that you can hear me okay. One thing that doesn't change, when you're coming in virtually, is the member for Bowman and that curious speech that he just gave, but I'll leave it to the member for Lingiari and other people with more in-depth knowledge to school him at a later time. Having spent some time recently with First Nations artists in the Northern Territory, I can say that painting and expressing culture is about so much more than selling artwork. It's about describing, communicating, lore, culture, families and dreaming. It's an important part of their culture. It's not simply something to be traded. I think the member for Bowman's ignorance on some of these issues belies the problem we have with realising the deep, deep potential of Indigenous exceptionalism.

Recently, here in the Northern Territory, the Children's Commissioner has reported that one in three NT kids are living in poverty, so we've got a great deal of work to be done. This legislation—the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment (Economic Empowerment) Bill 2021—might be part of the solution, but I think it'll only be part. It is important. It's not perfect, as the member for Lingiari mentioned earlier. There's so much that needs to be done to lift the standards. To think it's all going to happen from enterprise and not from concerted government action, at the federal level, the NT government level, the local council or local government level, is naive at best but at worst a deliberate attempt to defund organisations and programs that are slowly but surely leading to better outcomes.

Having said that, let me reflect on land rights for a little while. Here in the Northern Territory we live on the front line when it comes to the matter of Aboriginal land rights. It was a battle hard-fought by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders to begin that process of achieving some form of compensation for their significant losses during the period of European colonial settlement. There was a way for them to regain their connection and rights to the land that was taken from them—nearly always without their consent—and to strengthen that connection to their traditional lands with a connection in law. That movement had a massive impact here in the Northern Territory. These days, about half of the Northern Territory is now recognised as Aboriginal land. Given that Aboriginal Territorians represent about a third of our population, consulting with this population has always been paramount here in the Northern Territory.

I'm happy that these amendments have come about in part through some extensive consultation with the Northern Territory's four Aboriginal land councils. Like the member for Lingiari, I commend the minister for that. The Northern Land Council, the Central Land Council and the Tiwi and Anindilyakwa land councils have all played a part in helping shape this bill. They have called for these changes, which are 'the most significant set of reforms since the land rights act came into effect, in 1976'. I'm really pleased that this has occurred. Labor is very supportive of any measures that support the economic empowerment of Indigenous Australians.

As has already been mentioned in this debate, there are four major sets of changes being made to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act. I won't go into them all here today, and I stress that they're not all perfect. Firstly, the bill seeks to establish a new Northern Territory Aboriginal Investment Corporation as an Aboriginal-controlled corporate Commonwealth entity, funded from the existing ABA, or Aboriginals Benefit Account. As others have said, the ABA was established almost 70 years ago, and it extracts those royalties from mining on Aboriginal land. The federal government currently makes decisions about investment and other payments from the ABA and takes advice from the ABA advisory committee. Under this bill, the new Northern Territory Aboriginal Investment Corporation will be established and will make investment decisions mostly independently of government. The idea is that it will promote self-management and economic self-sufficiency as well as the social and cultural wellbeing of Aboriginal people in the NT, which is hugely important. It will be led by a board of eight Aboriginal representatives from the NT—two from each of the four land councils—two government-appointed directors and two independent directors appointed by the board. The new body will also take over responsibility for making beneficial payments to Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory that are currently made by the ABA. This is a big deal.

The ABA holds considerable funds—currently about $1.3 billion—which is accumulated from mining royalties. The government has said that the Aboriginal Investment Corporation will initially receive half a billion dollars from the ABA with an additional $60 million per year during the first three years of its operation. That represents a lot of money to be spent for the betterment of Aboriginal Australians here in the Territory. One thing that needs further thought is the range of investments that the NTAIC can make to build revenue. There needs to be a wide variety of investments to enable the revenue to keep growing and for the ongoing investments to benefit Aboriginal communities. Again, in the make-up of the board there is now a disproportionate weighting in favour of the two smaller land councils, and also there's no board representation from non-traditional owners. As the member for Lingiari said, I think that shows a significant level of grace from the northern and central land councils, representing, as they do, a much bigger percentage of Aboriginal Territorians. But we need to ensure that representation is fair and that investment and spending is done fairly across the Northern Territory.

I'd also like to note that currently the ABA's funds can only be invested in cash accounts, term deposits or investment-grade securities, like government bonds. Over the more than 40 years since the land rights act came into effect, the return on such investments has declined a lot. It's dropped to about a third of what it once was. Although the establishment of the AIC addresses this in part, more than $620 million will remain with the ABA. The ABA's mining royalty income is likely to drop off in the near future, as the Groote Eylandt manganese mine, which currently provides about two-thirds of mining revenue to the account, is scheduled to stop operating in the coming years. Perhaps it's time to look at a higher-return investment strategy so that the ABA will be able to meet its legislated functions in the future, including covering land councils' operating expenses so that they can do their important work.

Another concern is the change which gives the minister increased control over the remaining ABA balance. As we heard from the member for Lingiari, there were times when former federal ministers for Aboriginal affairs made decisions that were inconsistent with benefiting Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. Even though the federal Labor team would always take a sensible and legal approach to these issues, we need to make sure that, no matter what government is in power, legislation supports ministers to do the right thing by Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory and keeps them accountable. There's currently no legislated scheme in place that provides for advice to be made to the minister, so the payments from ABA would be made solely at ministerial discretion. That's problematic, as I just said, because, quite frankly, I don't have a lot of faith in those opposite to always do the right thing in these circumstances. That's no reflection on the current minister, but it has been supported by history.

I won't dwell on this too long, but we've also seen how ministerial discretion has been abused by a variety of Commonwealth grant programs in recent times. We've seen the outrageous sports rorts, the car park rorts and last week's heavily imbalanced spending by the BBRF, the Building Better Regions Fund, which was of course skewed towards coalition seats. I don't want to see even more political spending and manipulation of public funds that are meant to support and uplift some of our most vulnerable people. Surely, we need a strong advisory mechanism in place to protect the ABA's funds, to build and maintain trust and to make sure that grants are made fairly and transparently? I'm sure all honourable members would agree. I do hope there's consideration made of this.

On another note, I'd like to acknowledge the ABA's investment and interest in a cultural centre in my electorate of Solomon, here in Darwin. This is going to be a magnificent development that aims to showcase and celebrate Larrakia culture and history and to help maintain it for generations to come. It also aims to help foster economic independence for Larrakia people and to be economically sustainable, and I welcome it. Looking after land and sea, as the Larrakia have been doing for millennia, is important. It's important to all First Nations people. It will help to maintain existing ties and build new relationships with other Indigenous people, not just in Australia and the Pacific but globally.

Labor has welcomed the repeal of section 28A of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act, which we opposed when the Howard government introduced it. It was a brazen attempt to split and undermine the authority of land councils, and I'm very happy to see that it's being removed. We also welcome the repeal of section 74AA, which former Prime Minister Howard brought in as part of the NT Intervention. That section prevented land councils from overturning permits for accessing Aboriginal land that may have been granted by a community minority but against the wishes of traditional owners. There are other changes in this bill regarding processes around negotiation, consent and approval of exploration and mining ventures on Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory that should reduce inefficiencies and delays without—and I stress, without—compromising the rights of traditional owners. I do note that the NT's four land councils are strongly supportive of this bill, as is the Minerals Council of Australia.

I'd like to quickly pay tribute to Drew Wagner, who is the outgoing CEO of the Minerals Council in the NT, for the work that he's done. He's been a powerful advocate for Aboriginal people to be able to create jobs and wealth from the assets on their land, whilst seeking to protect the environment and upholding the concerns of landowners and custodians of that land. I wish him all the best for the future. I'd also like to acknowledge the work of Marion Scrymgour, Labor's very strong candidate for Lingiari. The reason I bring her up in this context is that, over her political career as a minister and the Deputy Chief Minister in the Northern Territory government, she was a powerful voice for Indigenous communities. She was also the first female CEO of any land council in the NT when she was appointed head of the Northern Land Council. She's been a trailblazer and a fighter, and I commend her for that work. I know she'll be an excellent member for Lingiari after the next election and an excellent advocate for Indigenous people across our nation.

Overall, despite some concerns I've mentioned today, there is lot to support in this bill. I believe it represents some very necessary and overdue progress in this space. I encourage all members to consult widely and to think deeply about issues involving First Nations people in our nation. I encourage members to take to their hearts the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the legitimate wants of First Nations people in our nation to have a voice, to have the truth told and to reach agreements about land— (Time expired)

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