Thursday 1 June, 2006
Crikey
By Chris Graham, editor of the National Indigenous Times

Aboriginal lands rights in the NT have been gutted

Howard government moves to wipe out the independence of land councils is the biggest tragedy for Aboriginal people since Federation.

The Aboriginal Land Rights Act (Northern Territory) 1976 is the best piece of Indigenous social justice legislation in this country. It is also regarded by some people as the best land rights act on earth. Its provenance is bipartisan. Whitlam conceived it. Fraser got it through parliament. And now the Howard Government is gutting it.

Two key features of the ALRA are: (1) traditional owners have the right to veto mining, and (2) traditional owners' interests are protected by land councils who are financially independent of government. This week in parliament, the Howard Government has introduced changes to wipe out the independence of land councils.

Under the changes, the financial resources of land councils will now come under the direction of Mal Brough. He will decide their level of funding, how they spend their money and direct their resources.The Minister is also proposing to give himself the power to delegate land council functions to other bodies – bodies he has created and funded.

What does this mean in practical terms? For a start, the changes will only really be relevant in the NT because the States have their own land rights powers. But it means that in effect the previously powerful NT land councils are dead. They will no longer serve traditional owners. They must do the bidding of the government.

So what is the intent of the amendments? It's no coincidence that most of Australia's uranium sits in the Northern Territory and on Aboriginal land. At present, traditional owners can veto mining on their land with the support of an independent, well-resourced land council. In the future, while their right to veto will be preserved, their capacity to enact it will be gone.

The federal government explains the objectives of the ALRA amendments thus: "The principal objectives are to improve access to Aboriginal land for development, especially mining, to provide for the establishment of devolved decision making structures for Aboriginal people, and to improve the socio-economic conditions of NT Aboriginal people."

This proposed legislation is the biggest tragedy for Aboriginal people since Federation. If it passes it will be an unmitigated disaster for Indigenous social justice not just in the Territory, but all over the nation. It is far worse and much meaner and trickier than the 1998 Wik amendments.

So will the ALP ark up and leap to the defence of Aboriginal people? Well, NT Chief Minister Clare Martin helped design this legislation, so I think that probably answers the question.