Aboriginal Law Bulletin --- "NSW Land Council Appointed - Act Attacked" [1983] AboriginalLawB 19; (1983) 1(8) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 7

• Nsw Land Council Appointed-Act Attacked

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NSW Land Council Appointed - Act Attacked

The Interim NSW Aboriginal Land Council held its inaugural meeting on 9 June 1983. The twelve members were appointed a week earlier by the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. They were:

Kevin Cook, General Secretary, Tranby College Co-operative for Aborigines, and Chairperson, N.S.W. Aboriginal Land Council (1977). Elected Chairperson of the Interim Council at the inaugural meeting.

Barbara Flick, Co-ordinator, Western Aboriginal Legal Service, Dubbo, and Member, Western Regional Land Council. Elected Secretary.

Paul Coe, Chairperson, Aboriginal Legal Service of NSW. Elected Treasurer.

Tom Winters, Western Aboriginal Legal Service, Brewarrina, and Convenor, North Western Regional Land Council.

William Bates, Western Aboriginal Legal Service, Broken Hill, and Member, Western Regional Land Council.

Hewitt Whyman, Aboriginal Legal Service, Wagga Wagga, and Member, Wiradjuri Land Council.

Mervyn Penrith, Chairperson, South Coast Regional Aboriginal Land Council, Wallaga Lake.

Delia Lowe, Roseby Park, Orient Point.

Pat Stewart, Committee Member, Murawina Pre-school, Mt Druitt; Member, Aboriginal Steering Committee, Family and Children's Services Agency; Member, Western Metropolitan Aboriginal Education Consultative Group; Probation and Parole Offices, NSW Department of Corrective Services. Cyril Briggs, Armidale.

Kevin Anderson, Chairman, Awabakal Cooperative, Newcastle.

Warren Mundine, Law Student, Baryulgil.

The Interim Council released the following statement after its first meeting:

Today the Interim NSW Aboriginal Land Council, established under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, 1983, had its inaugural meeting. The Council unanimously declared that the Aboriginal Land Rights Act and the land rights scheme set up by it are unacceptable and inappropriate for Aboriginal people.

The Chairperson elect, Mr Kevin Cook, stated on behalf of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council: 'The legislation does not represent a settlement of just claims for land or equitable compensation. It ignores many of the fundamental recommendations of the Keane Committee Report which in itself was inadequate and fell far short of reasonable Aboriginal expectations for just and equitable treatment by the Government.'

The Council notes in particular that the amount of Crown land which can potentially be claimed has been whittled down by amendments introduced to Parliament during the debate on the statute. The result is that Government agencies may frustrate a land claim by claiming that they need the land in question for their purposes.

The Aboriginal Land Rights Act completely denies Aboriginal people any right to claim privately owned land or Crown land that has been leased. Once again Aboriginal people are left with only scraps.

The Act sets up a levy of 7.5 % of land tax to fund purchases of private land. Already this Government is preparing to raise exemptions from land tax which will of course mean that the money available for land purchases is decreased. The Council notes with concern that the Liberal Party of NSW are committed to abolishing land tax altogether. The consequences of this would be to completely wipe out the funding mechanism set up by the Aboriginal Land Rights Act.

The total amount of money to be made available to buy land is set to be estimated by the Council to be about $150 million. This money is to be made available over a 15 year period and at present prices would not be enough to buy back Bennelong Point. The inadequacy of this sum is highlighted by the fact that it represents only $300 for each Aboriginal person in NSW. And this small amount is supposed to compensate Aboriginal people for having been dispossessed of all NSW and for 200 years of oppression.

The members of the Interim Aboriginal Land Council have accepted appointment solely to avoid any further sellout of Aboriginal people. The Council will proceed with the task of setting up Local Aboriginal Land Councils and Regional Aboriginal Land Councils. Yet the Council members believe strongly that the Wran Government have fallen far short of meeting the fair claims of Aboriginal people.