David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

The government opposes this amendment. The amendment would mean that only corporations whose members meet the indigeneity requirement of the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 can become prescribed bodies corporate. Corporations with five or more members meet the indigeneity requirement if at least a prescribed percentage of their members are Indigenous. Regulations are yet to be made under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 prescribing this percentage. Therefore it would not be appropriate to limit the scope of regulations made under the Native Title Act dealing with prescribed body corporate membership by tying them, now and in the future, to regulations made under another act. The government has stated its intention to allow non-native title holders and non-Indigenous people to become prescribed body corporate members if—and I underline this—this is what the native title holders want.

The government has also clearly indicated that, regardless of a prescribed body corporate’s membership, only native title holders will have a right to be involved in making native title decisions. If the native title holders only want Indigenous people to be members of their prescribed body corporate they will be perfectly free to impose this requirement.