Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I just want to provide some comments about the suite of amendments that have been moved by the opposition. Senator Johnston would be aware that this is where we have some fundamental difficulties with the changes being requested of the government—that is, a shift of emphasis from the Federal Court to the NNTT. This is in a climate where we clearly heard during the Senate inquiry—particularly from Ron Levy from the Northern Land Council—that there is support for the Federal Court to maintain the directions of the mediation, and we heard that the National Native Title Tribunal is clearly under-resourced, that there are not enough full-time members and that those who are members undergo five or maybe 10 days training in mediation. My question to the government is: what plans are there to actually provide more mediation training, more support or more resources for the NNTT to be able to undertake this increased role?