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Legislative
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| Sandra Kanck Deputy Leader Australian Democrats Member of the Legislative Council |
Parliament Index |
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Legislative
Council |
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| Sandra Kanck Deputy Leader Australian Democrats Member of the Legislative Council |
Parliament Index |
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NATIVE TITLE (VALIDATION AND CONFIRMATION) BILL
The Hon. SANDRA KANCK: It seems that it would not be another session of parliament without an opportunity to speak on native title. It would be nice if we did not have to deal with it again, in the short term at least. Certainly, since the last time I spoke on this in the last session, quite a deal has occurred. We saw the notification of claims to approximately 11 000 South Australians during the break, with attendant fear and hysteria. I was invited to attend public meetings that the member for Chaffey, Karlene Maywald, organised in the Riverland to deal with some of the concerns that her constituents were raising. I was not able to attend those meetings, because they occurred at very short notice, but I did provide a written statement which I understand was read to those meetings. In it I reinforced things I have previously said in this parliament, such as that I would no more move to extinguish native title on perpetual leases than I would move to extinguish rightful perpetual leases under normal circumstances.
I note that the Hon. Trevor Griffin has made a considerable amount of movement over the past few months. I remember that when legislation was first introduced two years ago I began advocating for the Attorney-General to get out and speak to Aboriginal people. I know that within the past two months he has been doing that and he has been out to a number of regional centres to consult with Aboriginal people, and I acknowledge him for doing that. I expect that he is not necessarily comfortable with his proposed amendments, and I therefore further acknowledge him for that, because it takes a degree of strength to be able to do that.
The Attorney-General noted that the South Australian native title steering committee had not made any concessions. I do not think that they need to make any concessions because it is the rights of native people that are being undermined in this process. At all times through this debate over the last two years, it has appeared to me that, no matter what the intentions are of the Attorney- General or the government, we are dealing with racist legislation. It is underlain by a racist decision at the federal level when legislation was passed that allowed the overriding of the Racial Discrimination Act, but the fact that that occurred does not in any way justify our doing the same thing.
I note in the assorted correspondence that the Attorney-General has sent out to all members of the Legislative Council in the last few months the observation that validation confirmation legislation has been passed in all states, and the assumption therefore is that we should do it too. When I was a teenager I would ask my parents whether I could do something or other because all the other girls were doing it, and my father would ask me whether, if all the other girls went out and threw themselves under a bus, I would do the same thing. There is definitely a parallel here. If other states enact racist legislation, we are in no way obliged to similarly enact racist legislation, and I will certainly do all that I can to take a stand against legislation of that nature.
Last month I received a delegation of the congress of native title management committees, and a number of Aboriginal groups from all around the state were represented at that meeting. I was quite moved by some of the presentations. They talked particularly about the relationship that they have with the land and how intrinsically their health is linked to the land. I know that some of the people in the Riverland, who have been frightened by the claims that have been made there, have said in a delegation to me that they do not know what Aboriginal people intend by the native title claim. They do not know what they want to do with the land.
The delegation from the congress of native title management committees made it beautifully clear. One of them said to me, `When the land is sick, all we want to do is come onto that land and sing the land until it is better.' That was a beautifully simple statement about what their intentions are. They do not want to take over the land. They want to be able to visit the sites that are of significance to them. They want to reinforce the connections that they have with the land.
I am looking forward to moving on in the committee stage and to making some progress. I have amendments on file that will take us further than the Attorney-General may wish to go, but I certainly acknowledge that in the last few months some great leaps and bounds have been made in the progress of this legislation.
