This report has shown that traditional owner communities across northern Australia are striving to participate in the development of the region, both for the sake of their own communities and for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples. The varying forms of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land tenure under Commonwealth and state legislation provide traditional owners with a range of rights to the custodianship and use of their land. Land is the greatest asset for Indigenous peoples in the region. The struggle they face, however, is to leverage those rights for the economic and social advancement of their communities. Title to land is, by itself, not enough.
In the ‘post-determination’ era the great majority of the north’s land mass has been claimed or recognised under land rights or native title legislation. This places a considerable burden of responsibilities and expectations on bodies representing traditional owners, including statutory, advocacy, governance, negotiation and business management functions.
The financial and capacity building assistance provided by governments to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander bodies is insufficient and creates uncertainty. The Committee supports increased financial support, as well as secure long-term funding that is not dependent on annual budget allocations. As a mechanism to provide funding certainty, the Committee finds merit in the idea of the establishment of a Future Fund. It is time that governments acknowledge that native title and land rights bodies are permanent institutions with structural roles in the legal and land administration systems.
The Committee noted that pastoralism and mining have been longstanding sources of jobs and income for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and will continue to play a significant role in some parts of the north.
Looking to future economic opportunities, the Committee took particular interest in openings in emerging sectors of the economy. There is growing potential in areas such as cultural enterprises and tourism, as well as environmental protection initiatives such as savanna burning, land management, carbon abatement and renewable energy. These opportunities have the special strengths of using traditional knowledge of country, as well as supporting efforts to stay connected with country and to fulfill traditional obligations of custodianship. The Committee is particularly supportive of the expansion of the Indigenous Rangers program.
Finally, the Committee is united in its commitment to the fundamental importance of the principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent as endorsed by Australia in the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People. These principles must inform all legislative and other arrangements affecting the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including the provision of support for representative bodies so that they can negotiate effectively without the possibility of coercion through an imbalance of power and resources.
I would like to conclude by expressing the Committee’s appreciation to the Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations and individuals who made submissions to the inquiry and to those who appeared at public hearings. Your contributions were vital to the Committee’s efforts to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the issues facing traditional owners in engaging in the economic development of northern Australia. I would also like to thank my colleagues in the Committee for their involvement in the inquiry and their constructive contributions to the report and its recommendations. Finally, let me express my appreciation for the hard work of the secretariat in supporting the Committee and bringing the inquiry to its completion.
Hon Warren Entsch MP
Chair