Mrs PADGHAM-PURICH - 1997-04-23
Has the Northern Territory government, through the Treasurer, made provision in the forthcoming budget for paying out the native land title claim on and around Darwin? If so, what is the highest limit to which he will go to satisfy the expected financial depredations on the government purse?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I do not believe that there is anything that any government will do that will satisfy the unreasonable demands that are being placed by some people in the Aboriginal industry on other Australians as regards their expectations of native title claims. Their insatiable appetite for more land, more taxpayers' money and the ability to continue to get into taxpayers' pockets in the future by way of entry fees to public areas and by placing other restrictions and compensation claims on existing developments cannot, in my view, be satisfied.
At the outset of the Larrakia native title claim, I advised Territorians that our assessment of the cost of that claim in compensation and other cost terms would be in the order of $100m. Interestingly, that has not been refuted by the land council. I expect that its expectations are of about that order, if not higher. If they were not of that order, one would have expected that, in order to alleviate public concern, the land council would have roundly refuted our assessment very promptly. The fact that this estimate has not been refuted, coupled with the fact that the land council will not keep its commitment to lift claims over current or previously freehold land, gives a clear illustration that it is not holding the interests of the general public in its mind. It does not have any intention of solving the uncertainty that exists in relation to the native title claim over Darwin.
Mr Ah Kit: Go and talk to them.
Mr REED: I pick up the interjection from the member for Arnhem. We will not go and talk to them. We have been talking to them for almost 20 years to try to resolve the Kenbi Land Claim over Cox Peninsula. It has been 2 years since we sent them the last offer of settlement and we have not had even the courtesy of a response. How should we negotiate with a group of people who treat the general public with such utter contempt in that regard? Don't come in here telling us to negotiate with them. They do not even respond to offers of compensation or offers of settlement relating to long-existing land claims on Cox Peninsula. The same group of people are responsible for the Larrakia land claim over Darwin and parts of the Darwin rural area.
This is a very serious matter, as I have demonstrated in this House before. It is holding up development. Only a couple of weeks ago, I wrote to the director of the Northern Land Council, bringing to his attention the fact that a developer wants to undertake some residential development in Darwin at a cost of some $2m or $3m. That would provide further economic activity. It would give jobs to builders, plumbers, electricians, architects and engineers and it would have a flow-on effect across the community. In overall terms, a $2m or $3m project may not be considered particularly large, but we must look collectively at all those projects
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that are being held up in the Northern Territory. There are hold-ups in Alice Springs also where, because of native title claims, the cost of residential land has gone through the roof. This is the sort of thing members opposite are imposing on Territorians through their support of native title legislation as it currently stands. When the Centralian Labor members go back to Alice Springs, they should tell Territorians that Labor Party policy strongly supports native title processes and, of course, the consequences that are flowing from them, such as the lack of development and the fact that jobs are being lost. The people of Alice Springs are having to pay $80 000 for a block of residential land, and the Labor Party supports that.
The member for Nelson rightly demonstrates a concern in relation to these matters. I can say to her that there will be increased allocations to the Department of Lands, Planning and Environment, to the Attorney-General's Department and perhaps also to the Department of the Chief Minister. These departments will need to take on more staff to meet the enormous and growing cost of fighting native title claims and standing up for the rights of Territorians in order to encourage investment that will lead to the creation of more jobs and to enable us to assure Territorians that they will not be required to pay to use the nature parks at Berry Springs and Howard Springs which are currently free.
A little slip of the tongue from Mr Fry only a couple of weeks ago clearly demonstrated the land council's intentions. There will be charges for entry to public areas. If there is no intention to impose charges, why are these areas being claimed? Why does the claim extend to places such as Cullen Bay and Bayview Haven? It is to get into taxpayers' pockets. Members opposite should be ashamed of themselves for supporting that. They should be ashamed of the additional costs that are being incurred by the Northern Territory government and the taxpayers to contest these native title claims in the interests of Territorians rather than in the interests of the grubby people who are trying to get their hands into taxpayers' pockets.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I do not believe that there is anything that any government will do that will satisfy the unreasonable demands that are being placed by some people in the Aboriginal industry on other Australians as regards their expectations of native title claims. Their insatiable appetite for more land, more taxpayers' money and the ability to continue to get into taxpayers' pockets in the future by way of entry fees to public areas and by placing other restrictions and compensation claims on existing developments cannot, in my view, be satisfied.
At the outset of the Larrakia native title claim, I advised Territorians that our assessment of the cost of that claim in compensation and other cost terms would be in the order of $100m. Interestingly, that has not been refuted by the land council. I expect that its expectations are of about that order, if not higher. If they were not of that order, one would have expected that, in order to alleviate public concern, the land council would have roundly refuted our assessment very promptly. The fact that this estimate has not been refuted, coupled with the fact that the land council will not keep its commitment to lift claims over current or previously freehold land, gives a clear illustration that it is not holding the interests of the general public in its mind. It does not have any intention of solving the uncertainty that exists in relation to the native title claim over Darwin.
Mr Ah Kit: Go and talk to them.
Mr REED: I pick up the interjection from the member for Arnhem. We will not go and talk to them. We have been talking to them for almost 20 years to try to resolve the Kenbi Land Claim over Cox Peninsula. It has been 2 years since we sent them the last offer of settlement and we have not had even the courtesy of a response. How should we negotiate with a group of people who treat the general public with such utter contempt in that regard? Don't come in here telling us to negotiate with them. They do not even respond to offers of compensation or offers of settlement relating to long-existing land claims on Cox Peninsula. The same group of people are responsible for the Larrakia land claim over Darwin and parts of the Darwin rural area.
This is a very serious matter, as I have demonstrated in this House before. It is holding up development. Only a couple of weeks ago, I wrote to the director of the Northern Land Council, bringing to his attention the fact that a developer wants to undertake some residential development in Darwin at a cost of some $2m or $3m. That would provide further economic activity. It would give jobs to builders, plumbers, electricians, architects and engineers and it would have a flow-on effect across the community. In overall terms, a $2m or $3m project may not be considered particularly large, but we must look collectively at all those projects
Page 2038
that are being held up in the Northern Territory. There are hold-ups in Alice Springs also where, because of native title claims, the cost of residential land has gone through the roof. This is the sort of thing members opposite are imposing on Territorians through their support of native title legislation as it currently stands. When the Centralian Labor members go back to Alice Springs, they should tell Territorians that Labor Party policy strongly supports native title processes and, of course, the consequences that are flowing from them, such as the lack of development and the fact that jobs are being lost. The people of Alice Springs are having to pay $80 000 for a block of residential land, and the Labor Party supports that.
The member for Nelson rightly demonstrates a concern in relation to these matters. I can say to her that there will be increased allocations to the Department of Lands, Planning and Environment, to the Attorney-General's Department and perhaps also to the Department of the Chief Minister. These departments will need to take on more staff to meet the enormous and growing cost of fighting native title claims and standing up for the rights of Territorians in order to encourage investment that will lead to the creation of more jobs and to enable us to assure Territorians that they will not be required to pay to use the nature parks at Berry Springs and Howard Springs which are currently free.
A little slip of the tongue from Mr Fry only a couple of weeks ago clearly demonstrated the land council's intentions. There will be charges for entry to public areas. If there is no intention to impose charges, why are these areas being claimed? Why does the claim extend to places such as Cullen Bay and Bayview Haven? It is to get into taxpayers' pockets. Members opposite should be ashamed of themselves for supporting that. They should be ashamed of the additional costs that are being incurred by the Northern Territory government and the taxpayers to contest these native title claims in the interests of Territorians rather than in the interests of the grubby people who are trying to get their hands into taxpayers' pockets.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016