The Aboriginal Land Rights Act (NT)
1976
"Land Rights has given us the only
hope we have of keeping our culture and our way of life.
The Land Rights Act has given us the strongest protection
of any Aboriginal people in Australia." Gularrwuy Yunupingu
The Aboriginal Land Rights Act
(NT) 1976 was the product of considerable effort by Aboriginal
people to have their inherent right to land recognised. When
the the Labor government was elected in 1972, Prime Minister
Gough Whitlam sought to negotiate a legislative framework
for the recognition of Aboriginal land rights. Justice Woodward
was appointed to hold a Commission of Inquiry into appropriate
ways to recognise Aboriginal land rights in the Northern Territory.
In April 1974
Woodward presented his second and final report to Whitlam.
He described the aims of the land rights strategy as: 'The
doing of simple justice to a people who have been deprived
of their land without their consent and without compensation.'
Woodward recommended that land rights
could be best achieved by:
- Preserving and strengthening all Aboriginal interests
in land and rights over land which exist today, particularly
all those having spiritual importance.
- Ensuring that none of these interests or rights are further
whittled away without consent, except in those cases where
the national interest positively demands it - and then only
on terms of just compensation.
-
The provision of some basic compensation in the form of
land for those Aborigines who have been irrevocably deprived
of the rights and interests which they would otherwise have
inherited from their ancestors, and who have obtained no
sufficient compensating benefits from white society.
-
The further provision of land, to the limit which the wider
community can afford, in those places where it will do most
good, particularly in economic terms, to the largest number
of Aborigines.
"We will
legislate to give Aboriginal Land Rights - because all of
us as Australians are diminished while the Aborigines are
denied their rightful place in this nation."
Gough Whitlam at the
launch of his party's election campaign
After the dismissal of the
Labor Government in the constitutional crisis of 1975, the
Fraser Coalition government passed the Aboriginal Land Rights
(Northern Territory) in December 1976, but not before making
significant changes.
Prime Minister Fraser buckled
to pressure from mining groups, pastoralists and conservative
Northern Territory politicians and weakened the legislation,
excluding some of the key recommendations made by Justice
Woodward including:
- The ability
to claim land on the basis of need, and
- the power
to legislate for access to Aboriginal land, protection of
sacred sites, and sea closures was handed over to the NT
Government.
Despite these changes, the Aboriginal
Land Rights Act came a long way in the recognition and protection
of Aboriginal land rights. It was the first of its kind and
remains today as a benchmark for Aboriginal land rights, being
'the most mature step taken by an Australian government in
recognising the continuing existence of another system of
law in this country.'
Through the Act, nearly 42 percent
of the land in the Northern territory has been returned to
its traditional owners, while 10% of the Northern territory
land is still under claim.
Regional Land Councils
Under Section 23 (1) the act,
regional land councils were established to carry out the following
functions:
- Find out
and express the wishes of Aboriginal people about the management
of their land;
- Protect
the interests of traditional Aboriginal owners of, and other
Aborigines interested in, Aboriginal land;
- Assist
Aboriginal people to protect sacred sites, whether or not
on Aboriginal land;
- Consult
traditional Aboriginal landowners and other Aborigines interested
in Aboriginal land about proposals for the use of their
land;
- Negotiate
on behalf of traditional owners with people interested in
using Aboriginal land and land under claim;
- Assist
Aboriginal people claiming land and, in particular, arrange
and pay for legal assistance for them.
In carrying out these functions,
the focus for land councils is proper consultation with traditional
owners so that their role is mediation rather than influencing
traditional owners in decisions about their land.
Amendments to
the Land Rights Act
In
1987, the Hawke government amended the Land Rights Act in
response to considerable pressure from wealthy mining companies.
In effect, this weakened Aboriginal control over their traditional
lands.
While
traditional owners still have the right to determine whether
a development will go ahead, they have a specific time frame
in which to make that decision and unless the proposal is
specifically rejected, the landowners are considered to have
consented to the proposal. Furthermore, if landowners agree
to exploration on their land, they have also agreed to any
subsequent mining activity upon mineral discovery.
These
amendments have posed a very real threat to Aboriginal control
over their traditional lands. For example, traditional owners
may consent to an exploration following advice from the mining
company that it will be looking for diamonds. If however,
uranium is found instead of diamonds, the traditional owners
cannot prevent that mine from going ahead.
Land Councils have an important role to communicate with traditional
owners so they are aware of their rights and all possible
outcomes. The land councils are fundamental in ensuring a
fair and just negotiating process so that large corporations
can't take advantage of Aboriginal people, who more often
than not, have the weaker bargaining position due to language
barriers and as a consequence of social and economic disadvantage.
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