Rod Kemp (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Hansard source

The advice that I have received is that it is essentially a backstop element. The bill allows, as Senator Evans said, for a Commonwealth entity or a Northern Territory entity to hold township leases. Let me make it clear that the government believes that it is desirable that the township leases be held by a Northern Territory entity, given the Northern Territory government’s responsibility for land management. The bill allows, as Senator Evans quite correctly said, for the establishment of a Commonwealth entity to hold township leases to provide for an alternative body—and this is, in a sense, the backstop provision—if no Northern Territory entity is in place when Aboriginal landowners wish to grant a township lease.

I draw Senator Evans’s attention to the fact that the bill also allows for a transfer of a township lease from a Commonwealth entity to a Northern Territory entity. In other words, if there were no Northern Territory entity in place when the particular township wanted to establish the lease, it would theoretically be possible for the Commonwealth entity to be the responsible body. We have the capacity to transfer leases from a Commonwealth entity to a Northern Territory entity. I make this point, Senator Evans, which should give you a great deal of comfort: the Australian government’s aim would be to transfer any township leases held by a Commonwealth entity to a Northern Territory entity as soon as practicable. I think that probably deals with your concerns, Senator Evans.