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Hunter, Catherine --- "Recent Happenings May 2007" [2007] IndigLawB 31; (2007) 6(27) Indigenous Law Bulletin 24

Recent Happenings May 2007

compiled by Catherine Hunter

3 May

Chairperson of ANTaR-Victoria, Jill Webb, has criticised the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2006 (Vic). The Regulatory Impact Statement – the strategy for implementing the Act – sets out the aims of the Act as protecting Aboriginal cultural heritage and reducing delays to developments. She says that the strategy provides new resources for the non-Indigenous parties but offers only limited funding for traditional owners. She said that the plans will result in funds going to ‘cultural heritage advisers’ rather than to the Aboriginal parties.

4 May

The ACT Government has opened the Aboriginal Justice Centre as part of initiatives to deal with the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system in the ACT.

9 May

Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, has announced that traditional owners on the Tiwi Islands, off the NT coast, have signed a lease in return for the right to own their own homes.

11 May

NT Labor Senator, Trish Crossin, has raised concerns regarding the signing of a land deal between Tiwi Islanders and the Federal Government. Senator Crossin is concerned that traditional owners have signed over their land without being fully informed of the consequences. She says the Government has been pushing for private home ownership in communities. The Tiwi Land Council is to receive a $5 million payment for the first 15 years, with the promise of 25 new houses in the following two years. However, Senator Crossin argues public housing and health incentives are every Australian’s basic rights. She says the Government has been vague about the details of the plan and wants to know how the land will be looked after, who will hold the leases, how the people will be paid, how often they will be paid, what happens when they die, and what happens in years to come.

11 May

The remains of 17 Tasmanian Aboriginal people are to be repatriated from the British Natural History Museum. Agreement had been reached to return the remains last year, but the Museum had wanted to conduct scientific tests on the remains before they were returned. The remains are to be held under joint control of the Museum and the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, and discussions will be held to decide whether further tests will occur.

25 May

Indigenous Affairs Minister, Mal Brough, has been accused of bullying communities into leasing their traditional lands. Mr Brough was in negotiations with Tangentyere Council regarding the Alice Springs town camps. Tangentyere Council, which manages the camps, was offered $60 million to lease the area, but refused because of the requirement to lease to the NT Government for 99 years. The Council wrote to Mr Brough arguing that the offer did not give the Council a guarantee of the $60 million, that there was not a proper negotiation process, there was no compensation for giving up development rights for 99 years, no protection for sacred sites, and no understanding of the deal’s scope.

25 May

Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister, Mal Brough, has discussed the importance of Indigenous children learning English to increase their future employability. He is considering using the cancellation of welfare payments to force Indigenous parents to send their children to school. Fred Chaney, of Reconciliation Australia, has criticised this plan and called instead for increased funds for education.

26 May

The Northern Land Council has nominated a site at Muckaty Station, 120 km north of Tennant Creek, as the potential site for a nuclear waste dump. If the Federal Government approves the site, the traditional owners will hand over rights to the land and will receive a payment of $20 million. However, Labor’s environment spokesman, Peter Garrett, has criticised a lack of consultation.

26 May

The Northern Land Council says they will soon meet with Rio Tinto to discuss the possibility of using Jabiluka in the NT, which is surrounded by Kakadu National Park, as a uranium mine. Traditional owners of the area have said this week they will reject any proposal to mine the site.

28 May

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (‘HREOC’) Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma, has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of the national Working on Country Program to employ Indigenous people as rangers and in land management. He noted that many Indigenous people had been working in this area without payment for some time. Mr Calma said that while funding had been available for land management, it had generally been granted to non-Indigenous people with relevant education and that the new program would recognise Indigenous traditional knowledge in land management practices, such as fire and water management.

28 May

Despite claims by Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, claiming on 9 May that the first 99-year lease had been signed by traditional owners of the Tiwi Islands, this was not the case. The Tiwi Land Council said that, instead, only a Memorandum of Understanding had been signed which was not legally binding.

30 May

The remains of eight Indigenous people have been re-buried in Kuringai, NSW, the area from which they were taken. The remains date back to 1500s and are the last of the remains held by Sydney University. The remains were returned as a result of a three-year campaign by the Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council.

30 May

Aboriginal groups in the Pilbara, WA, have successfully negotiated a consent determination regarding the Ngarla native title claim. WA Deputy Premier, Eric Ripper, said that the Ngarla claim is the 11th since the introduction of a policy in which negotiation is preferred over litigation. He said the determination is the fourth to be finalised this financial year, that there is another eight claims in the process of negotiation. Prior to 2001, only three claims had been determined. He congratulated all parties for reaching agreement.


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