Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator O'Sullivan for the question. This government went to the last election with a commitment to work with local communities to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander landowners can pursue economic development on their own land. We did this because Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were telling us that they wanted to make better use of their land and make the decisions themselves, to be able to use their land to pursue homeownership and commercial development and, particularly, in their words, to create job opportunities for their own.

For too long, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander landowners have been land rich but dirt poor. That is why I have reinvigorated township leasing as the government's preferred leasing model to support economic development on Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory, and we are making good progress. Last month, I travelled to Gunbalanya to sit down and talk again with the traditional owners. Together, the traditional owners and I signed an agreement in principle on the key terms of a township lease. This is a significant milestone in the negotiations and, I have to say, is a credit to the persistence of traditional owners, who have been asking to negotiate a township lease for many years.

I am also pleased to be able to report that negotiations with traditional owners at Pirlangimpi and Yirrkala are progressing apace, and I am looking forward to working closely with these communities in the coming months.