Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The problem with that is that, yes, you report back, but the legislation is through the parliament. If the report indicates that there are problems with it, unless things change in terms of the parliament—and well they might—we have no power to change the government’s trajectory. What surprises me here is that there is no ultimate plan involved in taking away the authority of people over their land—this incredibly important relationship and empowering factor in Indigenous communities—on the basis that the government is going to roll in and build new houses but it does not know how many and, as the minister says, it is incredibly complex. I agree with him on that. It is an extremely complex matter, but what the government has decided here is not complex—and, I submit, right at the heart of that complexity is the relationship of Indigenous people with their land. The government said: ‘We’re cutting through that. We’re taking that at the outset. We’re disempowering communities and we will do as we want over the next five years in consultation with you.’ But we know what that means, and that is the problem here.

It did not have to be this way. These outcomes could have been achieved, particularly if the Prime Minister had not turned his back on Indigenous Australians, with much better outcomes by now and moving through into the future. The minister says it is long term. I would agree with that and I agree that really earth-changing action has to be taken but not earth take-away action like this. It is very important that these communities do not have their spirit taken from them.

Can you imagine if this were legislation taking away for five years church property around the country because there has been child abuse in certain church properties, leading to millions of dollars in damages suits? Indeed, some church property is being put on the market to pay for it. Can you imagine, if that legislation were before the parliament, what the mayhem would be? No. That has not happened and it is not going to happen, but Indigenous people are suffering the taking away of their relationship with and authority over their land because this government thinks that is a simple thing to do which appears to them like a first move but it cannot explain what it is doing after that. It is wrong, you see. This whole plan was devised even without cabinet, let alone consultation with this parliament, let alone consultation with the people who matter most—Indigenous Australians.

I go back to what Senator Milne asked. Minister, you said you want hairdressers, that they can do that now. There is a real concern that this will not be the end of the takeover of land by the Commonwealth and that big vested interests have a stake in this. Can the minister say that none of these lands which are being taken over will be given to entities other than those Indigenous communities involved, in terms of infrastructure?