Judith Adams (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a member of the Community Affairs Legislation Committee, I was involved in the inquiry into the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Bill 2006. Recently, I have also been involved with two other Senate Community Affairs References Committee inquiries, which have visited a number of remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, Queensland and the Kimberley area of Western Australia. These visits have given me a great insight into the infrastructure needs of these communities and the opportunities that are available to Aboriginal people through the successful passage of this bill.

The amendments contained within the bill are the first comprehensive reforms to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act since it was introduced in 1976. The changes to the act will provide more choices in life for Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, and in time it is hoped other states and territories will follow. They will modernise the act and allow Aboriginal people to get more economic returns from their land. The changes to the Aboriginal land rights act will occur without changing the two fundamentals of the act—the inalienability, meaning the title cannot be taken away from traditional owners, and the traditional owner right of veto, meaning traditional owners can prevent or stop development and access to their land if they choose.

Land is the best asset that Aboriginal people have for economic development, and these changes will provide more choices for Aboriginal people. I would like to stress the word ‘choice’. There has been a great deal of misunderstanding amongst some Aboriginal groups and communities regarding the 99-year township leases. The 99-year township lease scheme was developed by the Northern Territory government and is entirely voluntary. It would only apply to townships where most of the residents are not traditional owners. Traditional owners would set the lease conditions and still retain freehold title to the land. The idea is to give individuals more control over their lives. They now have the option to lease their land to other individuals and businesses. For the first time, individuals and families will be able to buy land, and home and retail centres can be privately developed. The opportunity for homeownership should be a great incentive, especially for large extended families, to have a suitably designed house to meet the needs of all occupants. Private investment in retail centres for remote communities is a positive step, considering they may bring employment options as well. I stress again the two fundamentals of the act which will not change with these amendments. The title cannot be taken away from the traditional owner, and traditional owners can prevent or stop development of and access to their land if they choose.

The land councils have criticised the use of the Aboriginals Benefit Account to fund rentals to traditional owners under the leasing scheme. The Aboriginals Benefit Account, known as the ABA, is made up of mining royalty equivalents for the benefit of Aboriginal people. The ABA is designed for the benefit of the Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, and providing rental to traditional owners satisfies that requirement. It is important to note that this will be a temporary arrangement until the scheme becomes self-funding. The performance and the accountability of the land councils, incorporated bodies and royalty associations which receive payments for the use of Aboriginal land will be improved under this bill. In future, land councils will be funded on the basis of workloads rather than a guaranteed funding formula. Land councils already receive more than the statutory minimum, so this is a much more businesslike approach.

With the Northern Territory government’s support, this bill has the provision to withdraw land claims to the intertidal zone and to beds and banks of rivers which are not adjoining Aboriginal land. The claims are being disposed of because they cover narrow strips of land, which are inappropriate to grant. It was never intended that people could own land that did not abut other owned land. Granting these intertidal zones would prevent legitimate access to non-Aboriginal land. The bill seeks to promote economic development on Aboriginal land by speeding up and clearing up the processes related to exploration and mining on Aboriginal land. The time frame for negotiations relating to exploration licences will be better defined, and the minister will have the power to bring negotiations to a conclusion.

There was a very good editorial in yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald, titled ‘Dreaming of home: land rights and land deals’, which sums up what the government is hoping to achieve with the amendments in this legislation. The following passage is particularly relevant:

The risks of failure, then, are known, and are great. Yet the alternative is to continue with the welfare-based policies which have trapped generations of Aborigines in the most abject poverty. It is to reject the possibility that some communities may be induced to rely on their own efforts to pull themselves out of the dust. In Aboriginal communities there is enthusiasm and misgiving about the land rights amendments shortly to come before the Senate. That is reasonable. The amendments will never fix every problem or make everyone a winner. But if they can help even some communities to help themselves, they will be worthwhile.

I believe these amendments are a positive step towards improving economic opportunities, providing greater choice for local traditional landowners, and allowing for more decision making for local people.

The bulk of the amendments are based on a joint submission by the Northern Territory government and land councils, and the Northern Territory government supports the bill overall. Whilst the committee has stated that adequate time was not given to conduct the inquiry, I am confident that the government will continue to seek comment from traditional landowners and the community and that it will review the legislation on an ongoing basis to ensure that we are working towards a better outcome for Indigenous Australians. I support this bill.