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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-12-01 Daily Xml
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ABORIGINAL LANDS TRUST

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (16:01): I move:

That this council, pursuant to section 16(1) of the Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 1966, recommends that sections 993 and 995 to 998 (inclusive), out of hundreds (Nullarbor), be transferred to the Aboriginal Lands Trust.

I will be brief. I am advised that the Aboriginal Lands Trust has been working with Housing SA to implement a new approach to the management of residential housing on land owned by the Aboriginal Lands Trust. This new housing program, I am told, is funded by the commonwealth government and provides an income stream for redevelopment of housing and new housing for ALT residential communities. As part of this program, land surveys have been undertaken to establish the location of housing on ALT land so that proper tenure arrangements can be established for the Housing SA program.

The survey of housing at Yalata revealed that a portion of the housing estate had been inadvertently established on crown land. A licence had been issued to the Yalata council but this tenure does not meet the commonwealth requirements for tenure certainty. With the agreement of the Yalata council, arrangements are being established to transfer this crown land to the ALT for merger into the title that is generally known as the Yalata Reserve.

I am advised that the Yalata council has been supportive of this approach. It has already shown its leadership by being an early participant in the new housing arrangements. Once the title has been settled, Housing SA will have the appropriate security of tenure to deliver a housing management program in cooperation with the Yalata council. I commend the motion to the house.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (16:02): I rise on behalf of the opposition. We have obviously done investigations into this, and I would like to make a couple of points. We are quite disappointed that this motion was passed in the lower house without any explanation. Given that this was not on our list of priorities or something that was to be debated this week, we are a little disappointed that perhaps this is going to go through today without us having the opportunity to fully consult any interested stakeholders.

Nonetheless, I thank minister Hunter for organising, at short notice, a briefing for me. I have consulted with a number of my colleagues who have a keen interest in anything to do with Aboriginal affairs. Our preference would be for this motion to be dealt with when we come back in February, but it is my understanding that I might not have the numbers to organise that.

As I said, I have done some investigations, and it does look as though this is a tidy-up of a bureaucratic oversight. With those few words, I will not be supporting the motion, but I want to register my disapproval of the way this matter was handled by the government in the lower house.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (16:04): I rise on behalf of the Greens to indicate that we will be supporting this motion. Certainly, it will be a good thing to settle the title so that Housing SA and the Yalata council can get on with ensuring appropriate security of tenure under the commonwealth arrangements. I cannot let this go without making some comment that there was not a single piece of information in the Hansard about what this motion actually entailed.

It is no surprise, given that the former minister for Aboriginal affairs and reconciliation (minister Portolesi) had actually not spoken to a single bill, not only in her own portfolio but any other portfolio, since the 2010 election until the new Premier (Premier Weatherill) has come to that position. Also given that we did not have any information and given the record of this minister in not attending meetings of the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee, it is little surprise that there was no information provided for members to make an appropriate decision on what is in fact an essential thing for the furtherance of Aboriginal people.

With those few words, I indicate that the Greens are happy to support it. We thank the current minister and the minister representing the minister in this place for ensuring that information was provided to members to explain this particular piece of government business and we hope that never again will we see an Aboriginal affairs minister so derelict in her duties.

Given that this minister has also presided over not the first but the second review of the Aboriginal Lands Trust Act under her watch, I would hope that the new minister will shortly be bringing in the Aboriginal Lands Trust Act in the form of a reformed bill before this place and that we will receive much more information and that more respect will be paid to those people who contribute to the work that comes before this parliament. With the information and consultations that they provide to ensure that we are informed, it will hopefully be a more informed parliament in future given the change of ministers in terms of minister Caica. As I said, thank you minister Hunter for providing us with this information today.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (16:07): Just briefly to close the debate, I thank the Hons Mr Stephens and Ms Franks for their contributions on this important motion. I should indicate that I have consulted with the crossbenches and I am very grateful for their indications of support for the motion. I apologise again to the chamber for the short notice and not giving sufficient notice about this being a priority, but I was only made aware very recently by the Clerk that this does need to pass, so I thank them for their indulgence.

Motion carried.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Mr President, I draw your attention to the state of the council.

A quorum having been formed:

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