Australia: Native title reform bid

ABORIGINAL groups could apply to jointly manage all Crown land under the most radical overhaul of native title settlement proposed in Victoria.

Under the overhaul, to be considered by cabinet, traditional owners would negotiate directly with the State Government over land claims without having to pursue onerous native title cases in the Federal Court.

The overhaul was commissioned by the State Government after the federal native title system — which requires groups to demonstrate a "continuous connection" to their traditional land — was found to be failing Victorian Aborigines who were dispossessed from their land many years ago.

Fifteen years after the introduction of the Native Title Act, only 1725 square kilometres, or 0.75 per cent of the state, has been declared native title.

In the confidential draft report of the steering committee for the development of a Victorian Native Title Settlement Framework, seen by The Age, the committee charged with developing a framework for the alternative land settlements said traditional owners had an interest in all crown land.

There are 8 million hectares of public land in Victoria, including national parks, state forests and beaches.

Under the overhaul — which would require sweeping changes to existing laws — Aboriginal groups that could prove a traditional, rather than continuous, connection to land would be able to forge agreements with the Government to jointly manage areas such as national parks. Sea claims could extend to three nautical miles offshore.

The draft report says the reforms have the potential to make a significant contribution to reconciliation and address the inequalities and disadvantages experienced by Aboriginal people in Victoria.

Activities such as mining and major public works on jointly managed land would require traditional owners' consent before they could proceed.

Traditional owner groups would be compensated for activities including mining, carbon capture and storage as a result of reforestation, restoration of wetlands, maintenance of natural vegetation as carbon sinks and fire management systems that cut carbon emissions.

The draft report points to the Northern Territory, where mining companies on Aboriginal land must pay the same amount to an Aboriginal trust account as they pay in royalties to the Northern Territory or Commonwealth. "Traditional owner groups should receive no less than freehold owners receive when their rights and interests are affected by comparable land use activities," it says.

Aboriginal groups would also be able to use the land for camping, fishing, hunting and spiritual ceremonies without a permit, and to make crafts and artefacts for sale.

Crown land could be transferred to traditional owners, handed back in perpetuity under joint management or retained under state control but jointly managed.

Indigenous leader Mick Dodson, who chaired the steering committee, says in the report if the reforms are adopted and adequately resourced, native title claims in Victoria can be largely resolved by 2020. "It provides opportunities for economic development and creates a sound base for self-determination that will strengthen our culture and our communities," he says.

There are now 11 claims in mediation in Victoria, most of which were lodged up to 10 years ago but are unresolved. About 45 per cent of Crown land in Victoria is under claim.

Professor Dodson says in the report the reforms could also influence other jurisdictions to adopt more flexible and less technical approaches to native title resolution.

The draft report was given to Attorney-General Rob Hulls last month. A Government spokeswoman said consultation was continuing.

The Government last week announced that, for the first time in Victoria, two of four new national parks — Barmah and Nyah-Vinifera — would be managed by the Yorta Yorta, the traditional owners of the land.

The Government is expected to receive the final report early this year.

Canberra endorses state native title revamp
Jewel Topsfield
January 7, 2009
THE Federal Government has backed a radical revamp of Aboriginal land rights, saying the Victorian approach is an example of how native title could work better.

The state cabinet is considering a proposal in which traditional owners could negotiate directly with government to jointly manage public land such as national parks, without pursuing claims in court.

Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the Federal Government believed native title claims should be resolved in a flexible and less technical way and he supported the new approach.

"The Victorian approach is an example of how, through changing behaviours and attitudes, and by resolving native title through broader land settlements that include the provision of practical benefits, we can make native title work better," a spokeswoman for the Attorney-General said.

The Age yesterday revealed that a confidential draft report recommends that traditional owners be compensated for activities such as mining, major public works, and carbon sequestration as a result of reforestation and restoration of wetlands on jointly managed land.

While Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation and Reconciliation Victoria hailed the reforms, the state mountain cattlemen's association said "a few bleeding hearts" were driving a wedge between non-indigenous and Aboriginal Victorians.

Reconciliation Victoria chief Frank Hytten said the overhaul could preclude endless native title cases from being dragged through the courts. "We've had cases sitting in the courts for years and years and costing millions of dollars," he said. "Elders are dying sitting around waiting for things to happen."

The president of the Mountain Cattlemen's Association of Victoria, Christa Treasure, said she had concerns about traditional owners having access to jointly managed land for hunting, camping and cultural activities. "I don't think that is what Mr Average Australian would want. That is making two groups — what they are doing here is causing prejudice," she said.

But Ms Treasure said Aboriginal groups could not do a worse job of managing the alpine region than "faceless groups" from government departments.

Tim Power, a partner at legal firm Freehills, who recently negotiated settlement terms of a Gunditjmara native title claim in western Victoria, warned that while the concept was good, determining which Aboriginal groups had a connection to land would be difficult.

"Resolving disputes between two different groups that both claim an interest in the same land is pretty complicated and sensitive," he said.

Barapa Barapa chairman Wayne Webster said he was concerned that joint management of national parks would be tokenistic and the state would retain control. "The department (officers) are not going to give up their careers for a blackfellow — they make too much revenue, it's their gold," he said.

Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation chairman Neville Atkinson said the State Government had already taken positive steps with a co-operative management agreement with the Yorta Yorta people that covers 50,000 hectares of land, rivers and lakes in north-central Victoria.

Although the Yorta Yorta lost their 10-year battle to be recognised as native title holders by the High Court in 2002, they entered into the historic agreement with the Victorian Government in 2004.