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ABORIGINAL LAND RIGHTS (NORTHERN TERRITORY) ACT 1976 - SECT 20

Leases in compliance with obligations of the Commonwealth

  (1)   Where an agreement entered into by the Commonwealth before the commencement of this section gives a person an entitlement, in certain circumstances, to the grant of a lease under the Special Purposes Leases Ordinance 1953 of the Northern Territory, as amended from time to time, of land in Schedule   1, that agreement shall be taken to provide that, after the vesting in a Land Trust of an estate in fee simple in the land, the lease to which the person is to become so entitled in those circumstances shall be a lease granted by that Land Trust in accordance with this section, being a lease under which that person and the Land Trust have rights and obligations that are as near as practicable the same as the rights and obligations that would have been applicable to that person and the Crown, respectively, under a lease from the Crown granted in accordance with the agreement.

  (2)   Where a person who, by virtue of subsection   (1), has become entitled to the grant of a lease of land by a Land Trust has informed the Land Council for the area in which the land is situated that the person requires the lease, the Land Council shall:

  (a)   negotiate with the person with respect to the terms and conditions of the lease; and

  (b)   if agreement is reached on terms and conditions, direct the Land Trust to grant the lease on those terms and conditions;

and the Land Trust shall comply with that direction.

  (3)   Where the Minister is satisfied that:

  (a)   a Land Council has refused, or is unwilling, to negotiate with respect to the terms and conditions of a lease to which a person has become entitled by virtue of subsection   (1); or

  (b)   the Land Council and that person cannot agree on the terms and conditions of the lease;

the Minister may, after consultation with the Land Council and with the person, appoint an Arbitrator, being a person whom the Minister considers to be in a position to deal with the matter impartially, to determine terms and conditions of the lease that, in the opinion of the Arbitrator, should be acceptable to the Land Council and to the person.

  (4)   Where the Arbitrator has determined terms and conditions of a lease under subsection   (3) and the person entitled to the lease is willing to enter into that lease on those terms and conditions, the Land Council shall direct the Land Trust in which the land is vested to grant the lease on those terms and conditions.

  (5)   Where the Minister is satisfied that a Land Council has refused, or is unwilling, to give a direction in compliance with subsection   (2) or (4) or a Land Trust has refused, or is unwilling, to comply with such a direction, the Minister may, in the name of, and on behalf of, the Land Trust, grant a lease in accordance with the direction that should have been, or has been, given.


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