Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I do not want to enter into the same sort of point scoring that Minister Kemp seems to be concentrating on all the time. I made it very clear: we take responsibility for the position we adopt in relation to federal legislation. What we are debating today is not the Northern Territory government or their policy; that is obviously a matter for them. What we are debating is actually the Northern Territory land rights legislation, which is legislation of this parliament, and what we need to do is make sure we get that right. While the minister sought in a second instance to read the Northern Territory policy—and I am glad to see he is such a fan of the Northern Territory government and its policy!—what he did in his first answer was read the policy of the Commonwealth government, which was the more appropriate and interesting response. While I am reassured by the Northern Territory attitude towards housing, and I was aware of that, I am not reassured by the minister’s comments about the special benefits. That is, as I say, a point on which we clearly disagree.

This is very much a debate about what legislation the federal parliament puts in place to determine matters arising out of the Northern Territory land rights act, and we are seeking reassurances about how these things will work and what their impact on the rights of traditional owners in the Northern Territory will be. While I am encouraged by the minister indicating that there is an understanding that the entity may be able to negotiate arrangements in the granting of subleases to principals who apply, that is not in the legislation. I may be wrong, but if it is I have not found it. The absolute lack of any detail about the entity is one of my concerns: we do not actually describe how this will work. So, if those provisions are in the bill, I would appreciate the minister pointing them out. But, as I say, I think there is fundamental disagreement about the Commonwealth’s approach to what the minister describes as ‘special benefits’.