Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The people of my electorate in the Redlands are concerned. They're concerned about the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and about their increasing bills, but they're also concerned about a quiet legislation change that Labor have made that now threatens to pile on the cost-of-living pain even further. Currently, the Redland City Council are engaged in a drawn-out court battle regarding a native title claim over much of the Redlands. Unfortunately, this case threatens to add to the cost-of-living pain in the Redlands because of the Albanese government's ideological decision to abolish Commonwealth funding to respondents in native title cases. It means that Redland City Council—and, more importantly, its ratepayers—will be forced to foot a significant legal bill likely to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Native title determinations are not new. I trust the courts to be able to sort fact from fiction and what can be legitimately claimed as native title and the places where native title has been extinguished. The entire community will benefit from this determination when it's finally made, and there's a hearing set for September next year. But, as the court process has dragged on, Redlanders pay even more, and the legal costs continue to grow.

Figures from the Parliamentary Budget Office revealed that in the last decade there was a huge funding discrepancy between Commonwealth money given to support claimants against the money that's provided to assist the legal obligations of defendants. Over the last decade, the federal government has provided $1.028 billion to native title claimants but only $9.78 million to respondents, such as local governments, farmers and other organisations. The current native title claim in the Redlands is the first of its kind as the court determines native title over 3½ thousand council owned or managed lots. This isn't some far-west mining area or a pastoral lease; this is a claim over parks, playgrounds and nature reserves in the suburbs. Redland City Council deserve some financial support as they come to grips with this complex and unprecedented claim.

The Albanese Labor government's removal of this respondent funding means that Redland City Council will not receive a single cent to support the defence that they're mounting on behalf of the community. At the same time they're presiding over a cost-of-living crisis, the Albanese Labor government continue to work against the interests of Redlanders who are simply trying to defend these community assets and keep them in public hands. I call on the government to listen to the voices of Redlands residents and reinstate native title respondent funding.