Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I move Democrat amendment (23) on sheet 5192:

(23)  Schedule 2, page 30 (after line 14), after item 33, insert:

33A  At the end of section 86E

Add:

        (3)    A report or a plan in accordance with paragraph (2)(a) or (b) must:

             (a)    be prepared after consultation by the NNTT with all representative bodies in whose areas the region concerned is located; and

             (b)    must take account of the views of and the terms of any operational or strategic plan of those representative bodies.

I hear that I already have Labor and Green support without even starting to explain it, so we are almost there and I will focus my positive thoughts on Senator Johnston. This is also an alternative to previous proposals to delete item 33 within schedule 2 of the bill. The relevant item in the bill, item 33, will enable the Federal Court to request the Native Title Tribunal to provide a report to assist their court in progressing proceedings, a report on either the progress of all the mediations conducted by the tribunal and/or a work plan setting out the priority given to each mediation being conducted by the tribunal. That is in the legislation.

The Democrat amendment seeks to add a provision to ensure that in the preparation of such a report or reports the tribunal is to consult with the relative representative bodies and have regard to their views in relation to the development of the work plan and to its strategic and operational plans for the relevant period. It provides for the relevant representative body to receive a copy of the regional report or work plan sufficiently in advance of the directions hearing as to allow it to make any submission to the court about the report or plan that it considers necessary. If we are going to require the preparation of these reports to maximise their value, we should ensure that they are prepared after consultation with all the representative bodies and take account of their views. It is fairly self-evident that that would increase the value and accuracy of those reports, therefore maximising the benefit they bring.