ABORIGINAL LAND RIGHTS

The Hon. S.G. WADE (15:42): I rise today to speak about an important issue in Aboriginal reconciliation. The Letters Patent of this state, issued by King William IV, used the enabling provisions of the South Australia Act to establish the state, and established the authority of the government. It has been contended that the Letters Patent and the Order-in-Council conflict with the act in terms of lack of recognition for existing Aboriginal land rights. While the act treats the area proclaimed as South Australia as unoccupied wastelands, the Letters Patent read:

Provided always that nothing in those our Letters Patent contained shall affect or be construed to affect the rights of any Aboriginal natives of the said province to the actual occupation or enjoyment in their own persons or in the persons of their descendants of any lands therein now actually occupied or enjoyed by such natives.

The Order-in-Council similarly acknowledged the rights of Aboriginal natives. I must admit that I am yet to be convinced as to the prospect of any current legal proceedings asserting these rights, but a significant number of people within the Aboriginal community believe that these rights should be pursued at law. I am aware of a leader in the Aboriginal community who has made public comment that they do not think that such a case is a priority, given the many challenges facing the Aboriginal community; however, I do respect the right of any South Australian to pursue their legal rights as they understand them. Whether or not they receive funding to pursue such proceedings is another matter.

There is a group of Aboriginal South Australians who are intent on pursuing the Letters Patent as a matter of Aboriginal rights. On 15 May 2010 the Congress of Native Title Groups passed a resolution to authorise a Ngarrindjeri delegation to meet with the Premier of South Australia and ask him to sit down with Aboriginal people and discuss the implications of the Letters Patent and the founding documents.

The response of the government is interesting. On Friday 18 June 2010, the Premier, the Attorney and the Minster for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation met with a delegation of the Ngarrindjeri people and their legal representative, Shaun Berg, to discuss the issue of the Letters Patent. I would have thought that the Aboriginal people had every right to assume that such a high-level delegation was an indication that the government was taking this concern within the Aboriginal community very seriously. The Ngarrindjeri people certainly showed their goodwill by presenting a ceremonial boomerang.

The Attorney-General was quick to promote the government's alleged concern for Aboriginal South Australians in a ministerial statement tabled in this place on 29 June. However, as so often happens with this government, its interest seems to pass when the media cameras go away. In June, the Attorney-General wrote to Mr Shaun Berg, the legal representative of the Ngarrindjeri people, seeking a written formulation from the Ngarrindjeri people providing particulars of, first, the precise legal nature of their assertions regarding the Letters Patent 1836 and particulars of any or all consequences they believe may flow therefrom.

While the Ngarrindjeri were asking the government to engage the broader Aboriginal community in a process of consultation, the government, within a month, had shifted to a legal exchange of letters mode. This government is allergic to consultation and is offering no tangible response to the Aboriginal people's request for consultation. After all, the government did open consultation by meeting with the Ngarrindjeri delegation, but it was not willing to follow through; it has shifted to the legal process. On page of 8 of The Australian of 9 November (yesterday), it states:

Aborigines in South Australia are demanding the return of a ceremonial boomerang presented to Premier Rann. The indigenous leaders say his government has reneged on a promise to consult on the state's 1836 Letters Patent and other foundation documents.

Later in the article, it goes on to state:

Now they want the boomerang back, saying that they have been 'insulted' by the approach of Attorney-General John Rau, who has refused to hold discussions until Indigenous leaders outline their legal position.

I believe that the response from the Attorney-General is extremely disrespectful, because it insists that the Ngarrindjeri people put down their case.

Time expired.