Cheap Native Title Plan Condemned

Member for Lingiari and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia and
Indigenous Affairs Warren Snowdon said today proposed changes to the Native Title
Act seemed designed to knock Native Title holders out of the equation.

Mr Snowdon said the Government's proposal was a wholly inadequate response to a logjam of more than 600 outstanding claims.

'Labor believes it is in everyone's interests that Native Title claims are resolved
quickly, fairly and effectively, but this just hasn't happened and it won't happen through this package of amendments.

'Instead of recognising that the way ahead might be to properly resource representative bodies to carry out their functions, the government is seeking
to hobble them.

'Introducing fixed term periods of recognition is not in the interests of speedy or fair
resolution of claims because it has the potential to create instability and uncertainty
for all parties – native title claimants, government and industry, as well as the
representative bodies themselves.

'The changes also display callous disregard for the involvement of Indigenous people in the native title claim process.

'Also, the shift in emphasis from the Federal Court to the Tribunal runs the risk of making the process of resolving native title claims ever slower and more bureaucratic.

'Finally, the amendments leave far too much to Ministerial discretion, because they would give him greater power to deregister, to register new bodies without having to
be satisfied that they truly represent Native Title holders and to change their
geographical boundaries.

'Adopting a Father Knows Best approach – this Minister's only real policy innovation – shows an utter lack of respect for Indigenous involvement.

'You won't get better results from squeezing the representative bodies until there's
no blood left in them.

'Trying to process Native Title on the cheap is an insult to the Australian values of
fairness and due process,' Mr Snowdon said.

2007-02-13