Mr SETTER - 1997-06-17
The minister would be aware of the concerns held by commercial and recreational fishermen regarding the Northern Land Council's last minute, `grab and run' land claims. He has been consulting recently with the industry regarding these land claims. Will he advise members of the government's reaction?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, fishermen in the Northern Territory, especially those around Darwin and others who use the seas, should be very concerned about this recent round of land claims. To clarify the situation as it relates to Darwin, the claim includes all of that land adjacent to and seawards of the low-water mark on the mainland from, in the west, the boundary of the Delissaville/Wagait/Larrakia Aboriginal Land Trust to a point in the east where the Adelaide River meets the low-water mark, including without limitation any island, the bed of any bays or gulfs of the mainland or of any island, and sandbars, islands, islets, reefs and rocky areas and other formations to the seaward limits of the Northern Territory. That includes all of Darwin Harbour, all of Bynoe Harbour and all of Shoal Bay. It effectively restricts all amateur fishing activity in Bynoe Harbour and in Darwin Harbour. It would affect the right of Northern Territory people even to have a picnic on a sandbar in Darwin Harbour.
This has occurred at a time when the Northern Territory government is negotiating with the Commercial Fishermen's Association for the closure of Shoal Bay to enhance the recreational fishing experience available not only to Territorians but also to visitors. If you
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believe for one minute that, if these land claims are successful, the Northern Land Council will not then impose a regime of permits and fees on the residents of Darwin to use their own harbour, to use their beaches and to picnic on their sandbar, you would have to be living in cloud-cuckoo-land. Recently, the Amateur Fishermen's Association of the Northern Territory held a meeting with the Northern Land Council to discuss issues related to recreational fishing. On the agenda of that meeting was the charging of a fee of $200 per vehicle per week or $100 per vehicle per weekend simply to access King River. If you believe that, if the land council is eventually successful with this claim, it will not impose a similar regime on anchoring in Darwin Harbour, dropping a fishing line in the middle of the harbour, crabbing in Bynoe Harbour, Shoal Bay, King Creek, Micket Creek and Howard River - all those areas close to Darwin that are used constantly by recreational fishermen - you would have to be living in cloud-cuckoo-land.
Unfortunately, many people of Aboriginal descent living in Darwin are deeply and gravely embarrassed by these claims. I am forced to question upon whose authority the Northern Land Council made these claims because they can be viewed as nothing less than vexatious. I received the following letter this morning:
Dear Sir,
At a meeting concerning the possibility of pearl
farming in this region, held at Galiwinku on Thursday
12 June, the Northern Land Council representatives
informed the community present that a sea claim had
been put in by the NLC on behalf of the landowners for
the areas of Galiwinku, the Wessell Islands, Malay Road
and the English Company Islands.
As the spokesperson and landowner in this area, all
islands in the Wessell and English Company group, I am
very angry and disappointed with the Northern Land
Council as I was not informed or consulted on this
action, neither were my people, the Warramirri. We are
very concerned. We have been misled by the Northern
Land Council on several occasions. We absolutely do
not want a sea claim to be put in this area. We want
this to be withdrawn and cancelled. We are prepared to
go to the media and to the courts, if need be, to stop
this sea closure going ahead. We are seeking Northern
Territory government assistance in withdrawing this
claim.
Mr Bailey: Is he seeking preselection this time around?
Mr PALMER: Yes, it was Terry Yuimbulul. Are you disputing that he is the traditional owner of that country?
Mr Bailey: I was simply asking whether he is seeking preselection.
Mr PALMER: He is.
We need only to refer to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act and the functions of a land council. A part of their function is `to consult with traditional owners of, and other Aboriginals interested in, Aboriginal land in the areas of the land council with respect to any
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proposal relating to that land'. That is the land council's obligation under the Land Rights Act, yet the amount of consultation with the senior traditional owner of the area has been absolutely zilch. That would be exactly the case also with the Darwin claim. The Northern Land Council would not have acted on the authority of any traditional owners in seeking to lodge a claim. What it has done is to draw up a claim, obtain some signatures and lodge it. As I said, it has lodged it vexatiously with the intention of causing maximum grief and maximum damage in the council's last few months of existence.
Mr Bell: What?
Mr PALMER: If you do not believe me when I say `in the last few months of the council's existence', both the Northern and the Central Land Councils are becoming increasingly irrelevant to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. The major gripe of almost every group of traditional owners you talk to ...
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr PALMER: ... is with the land councils.
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr PALMER: I was talking with one group in central Australia about the prospects for economic development on their land. The senior traditional owner said to me: `What is the use? We want to do something. We want to get some jobs. We want to get some development. We try it and Tracker turns up with 2 hands out. What is the use of us doing anything? The land councils get the lot?' They are becoming increasingly irrelevant. The Aboriginal traditional owners do not want them.
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much interjection from the opposition benches. I ask opposition members to refrain from interjecting in such a manner.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much interjection. I ask members to keep reasonably silent while the question is being answered.
Mr PALMER: These lackeys of the Northern and Central Land Councils opposite ...
Mr BELL: A point of order, Mr Speaker! If the minister for Aboriginal Development wants to be heard in silence and wants us to listen to what he has to say without interjection, as you have just directed, it is incumbent on him not to use expressions like `these lackeys' and make gross misrepresentations about the associations of members on this side.
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Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BELL: You want order in your House.
Mr SPEAKER: I suspect that the member for MacDonnell is being a little tongue-in-cheek. There is no point of order. I suspect that those words would not have been uttered if there had not been so much interjection from the opposition benches.
Mr PALMER: Mr Speaker, I do not need to explain to Territorians who pulls the strings of the puppets opposite. They react to Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Tracker Tilmouth. They are the ones to whom they respond. As I said, Territorians need to be concerned about these claims. They threaten the very existence ...
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much interjection from the opposition benches.
Mr PALMER: These claims threaten the very existence of the major recreational opportunities offered to the people of the Northern Territory in respect of fishing and boating. Territorians make great use of our aquatic resources. I do not believe for a second that, if these claims succeed, the land councils will not impose permits, fees and charges for the use of Darwin Harbour, Bynoe Harbour and Shoal Bay.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, fishermen in the Northern Territory, especially those around Darwin and others who use the seas, should be very concerned about this recent round of land claims. To clarify the situation as it relates to Darwin, the claim includes all of that land adjacent to and seawards of the low-water mark on the mainland from, in the west, the boundary of the Delissaville/Wagait/Larrakia Aboriginal Land Trust to a point in the east where the Adelaide River meets the low-water mark, including without limitation any island, the bed of any bays or gulfs of the mainland or of any island, and sandbars, islands, islets, reefs and rocky areas and other formations to the seaward limits of the Northern Territory. That includes all of Darwin Harbour, all of Bynoe Harbour and all of Shoal Bay. It effectively restricts all amateur fishing activity in Bynoe Harbour and in Darwin Harbour. It would affect the right of Northern Territory people even to have a picnic on a sandbar in Darwin Harbour.
This has occurred at a time when the Northern Territory government is negotiating with the Commercial Fishermen's Association for the closure of Shoal Bay to enhance the recreational fishing experience available not only to Territorians but also to visitors. If you
Page 2151
believe for one minute that, if these land claims are successful, the Northern Land Council will not then impose a regime of permits and fees on the residents of Darwin to use their own harbour, to use their beaches and to picnic on their sandbar, you would have to be living in cloud-cuckoo-land. Recently, the Amateur Fishermen's Association of the Northern Territory held a meeting with the Northern Land Council to discuss issues related to recreational fishing. On the agenda of that meeting was the charging of a fee of $200 per vehicle per week or $100 per vehicle per weekend simply to access King River. If you believe that, if the land council is eventually successful with this claim, it will not impose a similar regime on anchoring in Darwin Harbour, dropping a fishing line in the middle of the harbour, crabbing in Bynoe Harbour, Shoal Bay, King Creek, Micket Creek and Howard River - all those areas close to Darwin that are used constantly by recreational fishermen - you would have to be living in cloud-cuckoo-land.
Unfortunately, many people of Aboriginal descent living in Darwin are deeply and gravely embarrassed by these claims. I am forced to question upon whose authority the Northern Land Council made these claims because they can be viewed as nothing less than vexatious. I received the following letter this morning:
Dear Sir,
At a meeting concerning the possibility of pearl
farming in this region, held at Galiwinku on Thursday
12 June, the Northern Land Council representatives
informed the community present that a sea claim had
been put in by the NLC on behalf of the landowners for
the areas of Galiwinku, the Wessell Islands, Malay Road
and the English Company Islands.
As the spokesperson and landowner in this area, all
islands in the Wessell and English Company group, I am
very angry and disappointed with the Northern Land
Council as I was not informed or consulted on this
action, neither were my people, the Warramirri. We are
very concerned. We have been misled by the Northern
Land Council on several occasions. We absolutely do
not want a sea claim to be put in this area. We want
this to be withdrawn and cancelled. We are prepared to
go to the media and to the courts, if need be, to stop
this sea closure going ahead. We are seeking Northern
Territory government assistance in withdrawing this
claim.
Mr Bailey: Is he seeking preselection this time around?
Mr PALMER: Yes, it was Terry Yuimbulul. Are you disputing that he is the traditional owner of that country?
Mr Bailey: I was simply asking whether he is seeking preselection.
Mr PALMER: He is.
We need only to refer to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act and the functions of a land council. A part of their function is `to consult with traditional owners of, and other Aboriginals interested in, Aboriginal land in the areas of the land council with respect to any
Page 2152
proposal relating to that land'. That is the land council's obligation under the Land Rights Act, yet the amount of consultation with the senior traditional owner of the area has been absolutely zilch. That would be exactly the case also with the Darwin claim. The Northern Land Council would not have acted on the authority of any traditional owners in seeking to lodge a claim. What it has done is to draw up a claim, obtain some signatures and lodge it. As I said, it has lodged it vexatiously with the intention of causing maximum grief and maximum damage in the council's last few months of existence.
Mr Bell: What?
Mr PALMER: If you do not believe me when I say `in the last few months of the council's existence', both the Northern and the Central Land Councils are becoming increasingly irrelevant to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. The major gripe of almost every group of traditional owners you talk to ...
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr PALMER: ... is with the land councils.
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr PALMER: I was talking with one group in central Australia about the prospects for economic development on their land. The senior traditional owner said to me: `What is the use? We want to do something. We want to get some jobs. We want to get some development. We try it and Tracker turns up with 2 hands out. What is the use of us doing anything? The land councils get the lot?' They are becoming increasingly irrelevant. The Aboriginal traditional owners do not want them.
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much interjection from the opposition benches. I ask opposition members to refrain from interjecting in such a manner.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much interjection. I ask members to keep reasonably silent while the question is being answered.
Mr PALMER: These lackeys of the Northern and Central Land Councils opposite ...
Mr BELL: A point of order, Mr Speaker! If the minister for Aboriginal Development wants to be heard in silence and wants us to listen to what he has to say without interjection, as you have just directed, it is incumbent on him not to use expressions like `these lackeys' and make gross misrepresentations about the associations of members on this side.
Page 2153
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BELL: You want order in your House.
Mr SPEAKER: I suspect that the member for MacDonnell is being a little tongue-in-cheek. There is no point of order. I suspect that those words would not have been uttered if there had not been so much interjection from the opposition benches.
Mr PALMER: Mr Speaker, I do not need to explain to Territorians who pulls the strings of the puppets opposite. They react to Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Tracker Tilmouth. They are the ones to whom they respond. As I said, Territorians need to be concerned about these claims. They threaten the very existence ...
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much interjection from the opposition benches.
Mr PALMER: These claims threaten the very existence of the major recreational opportunities offered to the people of the Northern Territory in respect of fishing and boating. Territorians make great use of our aquatic resources. I do not believe for a second that, if these claims succeed, the land councils will not impose permits, fees and charges for the use of Darwin Harbour, Bynoe Harbour and Shoal Bay.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016