Native Title Report 2006: Report finds joint economic aspirations are possible

Report finds joint economic aspirations are possible

14 June 2007

Economic development can and does happen on Indigenous land, and when the preconditions are right, Indigenous Australians can and do achieve great things on the land, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma said today following the tabling of the Native Title Report 2006.

“My people want economic development, but we want it on our terms. We want to be in control of the decisions that affect us and affect our land. One of the key success factors in all of the projects that I profile in this report is Indigenous control of decision-making,” Mr Calma said. 

Tabled in federal Parliament today, the report also contained a national survey of Indigenous land owners, which found that although custodial responsibilities and land care were their first priority, nearly all respondents strongly supported economic development.

“Our survey found that traditional owners on resource-rich land were likely to have good governance structures in place because they had been supported by industry and government to negotiate mining and other land-use agreements. However, land owners on marginal land often had very limited interaction with business and government therefore lacked the structures and skills to access government support. As such, some land owners are in a position to initiate projects while others are completely locked out of the process,” Mr Calma said.

“Many of my people want to become self sustaining, but for many there is a gap between the government assistance on offer and the ability to access it. There are lots of good programs that we can access if we are skilled business managers, but many people need assistance to get to that point. Grass-roots assistance is needed to develop local governance structures and sustainable business skills.”

The Native Title Report 2006 also examines the Australian Government’s economic reform agenda for Indigenous land, specifically the 99-year lease scheme that aims to provide home ownership opportunities on Indigenous land.

“The problem with this scheme is that Indigenous land owners have to give up their land rights if they want to access new homes and low interest mortgages,” Commissioner Calma said.

“Ultimately the lease and home ownership initiative is more a debt creation scheme - one which threatens our hard fought-for land rights. Unfortunately, the majority of remote Indigenous Australians can’t currently get mortgages because they are either unemployed, or they are recipients of benefits or precarious income that does not support mortgage repayments.

“My report does prove however, that much is possible when governments and industry work with Indigenous people to achieve joint economic aspirations.”

The Native Title Report 2006, chapter summaries, fact sheets and media release are available online at https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-social-justice

Media contact: Louise McDermott (02) 9284 9851 or 0419 258 597