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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-09-22 Daily Xml
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Aboriginals Benefit Account

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:15): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation questions about the newest round of Aboriginals Benefit Account funding from the commonwealth.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: The commonwealth's Aboriginals Benefit Account is based on royalties earned from mining operations on Aboriginal lands in the Territory. There is currently a South Australian agreement with APY on royalty splitting, as well as trilateral agreements with Western Australia and the Territory on service delivery in the areas of health and policing. My questions to the minister are:

1. Is there any way for APY to benefit from the ABA, given the connection of Anangu to the Territory both geographically and in terms of kinship?

2. Is there any plan to establish a similar fund where royalties have been earned on mining operations on Aboriginal lands?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:16): I thank the honourable member for his questions and his continued interest in these areas. In terms of the commonwealth scheme that applies in the Northern Territory, I am not familiar with that scheme, but if there is a way that it can be of benefit to the APY I will certainly make inquiries to see if there is any possibility, as the honourable member correctly assumes in his question.

As he knows better than most, many on the APY lands have connections right across that tri-border area, from WA, NT and SA. The Pitjantjatjara people live in all those states, so there are many connections across borders. In terms of how the commonwealth scheme to benefit Aboriginal people from mining might benefit APY, I will certainly make inquiries. I wasn't aware that that commonwealth scheme existed in the NT, so I thank the honourable member for bringing that to my attention and I will make inquiries.

In terms of the benefit that mining might provide for Aboriginal communities in South Australia, certainly I know of a number companies that provide services in the mining and resources sector and now have expanded out into civil areas, based out of both Port Augusta and Whyalla, that are Aboriginal owned and controlled that are having some benefit.

In terms of the split of royalties under the Mining Act and how that intersects with Aboriginal landholding acts, again I will have to look at that. On that part of it, I will bring back an answer as to how that might benefit particularly the communities that are under acts like Maralinga Tjarutja and APY and also ALT land.

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