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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
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ABORIGINAL LAWS AND PRACTICES

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (11:51): I move:

That this house calls upon the state government to review, in conjunction with Aboriginal groups and individuals, the laws and practices pertaining to traditional lands that may hinder or impede Aboriginal people from having meaningful self-determination and individual achievement.

I do not want to fall into the trap here—and I have made that clear in the motion—that I want to be running the lives of Aboriginal people. We need to—when I say 'we', the people who can change laws and so on—create a situation where Aboriginal people can genuinely advance their own activities. I am not sure and I am not convinced that that is the case at the moment. We have had a bill—and I am not sure whether it is still before the house and I do not want to transgress—relating to Aboriginal lands. In researching this topic I find a consistent theme coming through which is somewhat contradictory in its nature. On the one hand, if you look at the powers under the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981—

Mr Pengilly: Can you spell it for Hansard?

The Hon. R.B. SUCH: Hansard can spell anything; they are very capable people. They have probably been sadly affected by having to listen to us for too long!

On the one hand that act says that the people involved in running it can grant a lease or licence for any period it thinks fit in respect of any part of the lands to an Anangu or an organisation comprised of Anangu. However, when you go further in, you find that it is not quite that straightforward because there are significant restrictions in the way that it can operate.

I note here that individual home ownership is not currently possible on the lands. I know that some senior Aboriginal people have been arguing that if you want Aboriginal people to be really self-empowered and have a sense of achievement and so on, then you have to allow them to have a sense of ownership of their life and the opportunities that confront them. We know, for example, that in Canberra you cannot own land for a house. You can have a 99-year lease, which I guess is long enough for most people, unless you are going to live to be 150, or something.

I will not go through all the points but it is not clear to me, from looking at the current laws and provisions, that someone can, in effect, have their own house in the lands, whether by a long-term lease or straight out ownership. I think the community and the Aboriginal people, obviously, need to be involved and resolve this issue. Are the lands for the benefit of the people themselves to establish a business or to own a house or lease a house for 99 years, or are they always going to be subject to even tighter restrictions than what we put on people outside the lands? I think that is the issue that needs to be addressed.

Many of us have been to the APY lands—I have not been for a few years—and I think there are opportunities. I do not think they are quite at the point where they can be self-supporting economically. There are a whole lot of issues about cattle raising and tourism, and so on, but with modern communications there is no reason why in the future they could not be accessing some of that modern technology to create employment locally for themselves.

If you want people to have a sense of empowerment and to believe they own their future, then I think you have to let them have a sense of ownership in reality. It is fine to say it is collectively owned by the Aboriginal people, and so on—and, clearly, there have to be safeguards, as there are outside the lands. We do not allow people to do whatever they want in relation to any issue. As I say, I am not here to tell the Aboriginal people what they should and should not have but, reading through the history, you can see there is a consistent problem. I quote from the research paper:

It must be acknowledged that issues around land tenure, including native title, can be significant causes of a dispute and ill feeling in many priority communities. Resolution of land tenure and land use issues in many cases require significant mediation and resolution of long-term disputes.

That highlights what I believe, that we need to have a mechanism that allows Aboriginal people to decide whether or not they can do more with their lands in terms of individual leases and ownership. I think we need to move from a controlling, in effect, welfare model to one where Aboriginal people can legitimately exercise their rights to create a lifestyle and own things that they desire.

I know Aboriginal people who run businesses outside of the lands. John Moriarty is one. I went to university with John. He is a good soccer player, a good bloke and a capable business person. There are many others, and I know many other Aboriginal people. If you cannot actually call it your own, I do not think you are going to ever get either the sense of achievement or probably the motivation to deliver.

It might seem, at first sight, to be contrary to traditional Aboriginal culture because they have, in effect, a sharing culture which is less self-focused than ours, but I think the reality is the world has changed and, just as Aboriginal people in traditional lands will use a rifle to shoot a kangaroo rather than throw a spear, I think we have to acknowledge that the world has moved on.

Whilst they are not on traditional lands, the Exclusive Brethren—I use this as a parallel analogy—who had a strict policy of no computers and no mobile phones (which I think is a very good policy, but I am only joking), have changed their policy. I said, 'I did not think your children were allowed to have computers or mobile phones,' and they said, 'The world has changed so we have to as well.' I think there is a parallel. It is a very different situation, I know, but the world has changed.

If we are going to be fair dinkum about giving Aborigines the right of genuine self-determination, you have to allow them the right to own things and develop things, obviously, with appropriate safeguards.

I am just opening up the issue for debate. I do not claim to have all the answers, and it is not for me to tell Aboriginal people in traditional lands, or anywhere else, how to run their lives or whether they should own a home or not own a home, but I think the issue needs to be looked at to make sure that if that is the way they want to go they have those options.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mrs Geraghty.

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