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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-10-17 Daily Xml
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APY LANDS

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (14:40): I seek leave to make an explanation before directing a question to the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion on the subject of the APY lands.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Section 19(1) of the APY lands act—Unauthorised entry on land says:

A person (not being an Anangu) who enters the lands without the permission of [APY] is guilty of an offence and liable to a penalty...

Subsection (2) provides:

The maximum penalty...(a) where the offence was committed intentionally—a fine of two thousand dollars plus five hundred dollars for each day during which the convicted person remained on the land after the unlawful entry...

Subsection (10) provides:

If Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, by notice in writing to the Minister, objects to an authorised person entering or remaining upon the lands, the Minister shall revoke or modify the authorisation in order to give effect to the objection unless he is satisfied that there are sufficient reasons why the authorisation should continue notwithstanding the objection.

I am informed that in April of this year the chairman of Mimili and the deputy chairman of the APY lands executive, Mr Willy Pompey, wrote to the minister where they directed a number of Department for Communities and Social Inclusion staff off the APY lands. In that letter, those staff, whom I will not name at this stage, were named, obviously, and were ordered off the lands. The information provided to me is that those staff did not remove themselves from the lands and they stayed, contrary to that direction, working on the lands. My questions are:

1. Did the minister receive that letter and, if so, what action, if any, did he take?

2. Did his actions, if any, comply with section 19 of the APY lands legislation?

3. If he believes they complied with section 19, can he outline to the chamber exactly what actions he took and how he complied with section 19 of the legislation?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (14:42): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. The Department for Communities and Social Inclusion provides a number of services to communities on the APY lands. Communities and Social Inclusion staff perform a variety of important roles including providing services to youth, the elderly and community members with disabilities.

Services include family support services which include access to healthy cooking, play areas, showering and clothes washing facilities for our vulnerable clients; home and community care services to support frail aged and younger people with disabilities to live independently; a disability support program that provides services including specialist allied health disability support services; and youth programs to provide recreational activities designed to divert young people from risky and antisocial behaviour.

The department is one of the main employers of Anangu staff and will continue with the goal of developing and training more Anangu people to work for the department. Current staff working on the APY lands are qualified and experienced in their roles and have formed a number of relationships with the clients they work with. It is difficult to find or replace experienced staff to work on the APY lands, and any staffing issues are best resolved with the local community.

The Department for Communities and Social Inclusion complies with all facets of the APY Lands Rights Act 1981. The authorisation of a person entering or remaining upon the lands being revoked or modified does not generally apply to public servants on the lands, which is my advice. The requirement of section 19(10) of the APY Land Rights Act 1981 that, unless satisfied that the authorisation should continue, the minister revoke or modify a person's authorisation if requested to do so by APY, only applies, is my advice, to persons authorised by the minister under section 19(8) or section 19(8)(ca) of the APY Land Rights Act. In this case it does not apply to public servants.

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