Page 3473 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 11 October 1994
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... the Government believes that the national scheme now enshrined in the Native Title Act has struck a careful balance between certainty of land administration and justice for Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait islanders. This balance reflects in part the extensive consultations that took place with all interested parties during the development of the Commonwealth's policy position and as the Bill progressed through the Commonwealth Parliament. Accordingly, the ACT Native Title Bill provides an appropriate basis on which the Territory will participate in the national scheme.
I echo these sentiments and agree that it is sensible for the ACT to use the Commonwealth tribunal rather than set up its own separate body.
Madam Speaker, I note that the Government did not adopt this approach without consulting the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council and accepting its comments where possible. I also note that, since the Bill was introduced by the Chief Minister, the Government has consulted further with Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders in relation to the legislation and that this consultation process has contributed to the delay in the Assembly resuming the debate on the Bill. It is appropriate that this delay has occurred to enable full discussions to take place with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of the ACT.
I believe that it is also worth noting that, as is the case with the Commonwealth, this Bill should not be considered in isolation. It is an important part of the reconciliation process and should be considered together with the activities that are being undertaken in the ACT in cooperation with the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, the ACT Government's draft social justice agenda for ACT Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islanders which was announced by the Chief Minister on 20 June of this year, and the fact that the Bill addresses at an ACT level recommendations 334 to 337 of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
Madam Speaker, the Native Title Bill will have little practical application in the ACT, due to the Territory's comparatively small size and its history of land tenure, both as a part of New South Wales and as the Australian Capital Territory. It is, however, an important signal to the indigenous people of the Territory of the commitment of the Assembly to the reconciliation process. The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation noted in its May 1994 publication Walking Together that, during a sitting in April, the ACT Assembly had become the first State or Territory to endorse the council's vision. By passing the Native Title Bill the Assembly will be placing another of the many necessary planks in the bridge to reconciliation.
MR HUMPHRIES (10.56): Madam Speaker, I want to make a couple of comments about the Bill. I think it is particularly important to put on the record what the Liberal Party's position has been in respect of this native title legislation. When the Mabo decision or Mabo 2 was such an issue of high contention and debate in our community, not just here in Canberra but around the country, there was a great deal of political discussion and debate about where exactly we should be heading with native title legislation. At the time of that decision by the High Court I, as spokesman at that time
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