Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment (Scheduling) Bill 2024. I'd like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the former minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, who moved this matter forward, and the new minister, the marvellous Minister McCarthy, who is progressing the legislative amendments. At the heart of this bill is Labor's recognition and ongoing support of the rights of First Nations people to own and control their traditional lands. At the heart of this whole piece of legislation is recognising history, recognising truth, recognising facts.

This bill amends schedule 1 of the act and supports the finalisation of the land claim for approximately 484,000 hectares of unalienated Crown land near the Canteen Creek community. Canteen Creek is known locally as Owairtilla and lies about 270 kilometres south-east of Tennant Creek in the Barkly region of the Northern Territory. The Albanese Labor government has introduced this bill to support the implementation of the Canteen Creek Area Indigenous Land Use Agreement, which was entered into by the Northern Territory and the Central Land Council in 2020. An Indigenous land use agreement, or ILUA for those that don't work in this area of law, is a voluntary agreement between native title parties and other peoples or bodies about the use and management of areas of land or waters. It's actually very common, particularly in the mining industry. In fact, when I worked in that area, there were even ILUAs that covered all of Queensland for certain agreements.

This ILUA resolves the native title rights and interests over all the land within the Canteen Creek township boundary. In the case of the Canteen Creek area, this bill finalises the Wakaya Alyawarre land claim under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, also known as the land rights act. The people of the Wakaya and Alyawarre language groups have a strong connection with this land which is linked with emu and many other dreamings. They have been waiting for decades for their land claim to be finalised, with land claims beginning in 1980 and 1990. The land rights act is a federal law that is unique to the Northern Territory. It is a piece of legislation that was drafted by the Whitlam government and introduced to parliament in October 1975, and this largely unchanged legislation was subsequently passed by the Fraser government in 1976. I particularly praise Malcolm Fraser for his work with First Nations people.

This was the first legislation in the country to enable First Nations people to claim land rights for country—as in the part of Australia they belong to—where traditional ownership could be proven. At its centre is a recognition of First Nations spiritual and cultural affiliation with the land. It's a concept touched on in song. As a property lawyer, as a conveyancing lawyer, my idea was to get people to own land, whereas for some First Nations people it's about the concept of belonging to the land.

In Queensland we have something that is not a little bit dissimilar: the deed of grant in trust lands, or DOGIT lands. But the background there is a little bit more problematic, because DOGIT lands were often a dumping ground for various First Nations people, where they were removed from country and then dumped in one area, often a mission. So, DOGIT land is slightly different. But the Land Rights Act has enshrined Aboriginal land as private property, which its traditional owners hold collectively through a unique form of freehold title. The land cannot be sold or mortgaged. The former conveyancing lawyer in me loves this stuff, but obviously it's not everyone's cup of tea.

The Land Rights Act also established four land councils, including the Central Land Council. The Central Land Council is responsible for the southern half of the Northern Territory. Under the act, the Central Land Council consults traditional Aboriginal landowners and other Aboriginal people who have an interest in Aboriginal land about proposals for the use of that land and assists with land claims and management. It also: supervises and assists Aboriginal land trusts; assists with the economic development of land and promotes community development; administers permits to visit Aboriginal land; and protects Aboriginal culture and sacred sites. I know there is much work taking place in terms of the green energy transition regarding returns to traditional owners that can come through having wind farms and solar panels on land that export electricity.

With the passing of this bill, the Wakaya Alyawarre land will be granted as Aboriginal land to an Aboriginal land trust. The land trust will hold inalienable freehold title for the benefit of the traditional First Nations owners and other First Nations people who have an interest in the land. This bill is supported by stakeholders, having been through the ILUA execution process with the Central Land Council. This includes all reasonable efforts to identify impacted people and a timeframe for objections to be raised. The only impacts will be minor, as the Aboriginal Land Trust will be required to comply with the provisions of the Land Rights Act.

It's also important to consider this bill in regard to the Closing the Gap framework. The National Agreement on Closing the Gap includes 19 names that have an impact on life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Outcome No. 15 is that people maintain a distinctive cultural, spiritual, physical and economic relationship with their land and waters. So, even if you're not living in that area you still are able to maintain some of those other aspects as outlined in No. 15 of the Closing the Gap targets. The corresponding target is set for 2030 and is twofold. Firstly, it aims for a 15 per cent increase in Australian landmass that is subject to Aboriginal and Torres Islander people's legal rights or interests. Secondly, it aims for a 15 per cent increase in areas covered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's legal rights or interests in the sea.

According to the Productivity Commission, as at 30 June 2023 more than 4.2 million square kilometres of the landmass of Australia and more than 113,000 square kilometres of the sea country of Australia were subject to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's rights or interests. The Productivity Commission notes that the targets are on track to being met, and this bill is another important step in that journey. With land-tenure certainty comes economic opportunity.

This bill affirms that the Albanese Labor government is committed to finalising land claims in the Northern Territory under the Land Rights Act. The settling of land rights matters enables traditional owners to maintain their distinctive cultural, spiritual, physical and economic relationship to the land. I commend the bill to the House.

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