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

Senator Johnston, you were at the hearings and heard the same evidence that I did. In some instances that is not in fact what we heard. In fact, Mr Neate admitted to us that he found that the five days of initial mediation training was inadequate, so the NNTT moved to provide people with a further five days. I have another question. This parliament once had a joint parliamentary committee on native title and the Indigenous Land Fund, admittedly under a section of the Native Title Act. That section has now required for that committee to no longer exist, because it was under a 10-year sunset clause. We both sat on that committee and my recollection is that that was at least an external body that had the power to inquire into and report on the annual report of the NNTT, monitor the operations of the NNTT and have a really good look at exactly how all of the native title processes were going under the NNTT. So does the government have any plans to reconstitute a joint parliamentary committee or reconvene some sort of committee of this parliament that will have an ongoing oversight of the native title regime, including scrutiny of the NNTT?