13 Points on LAND RIGHTS for Aboriginal People
1 For at least 40,000 years Aboriginal people lived on this
continent, owning, caring for and being sustained by the
land. With their deep knowledge of nature and respect for the
environment in which they lived, they developed a successful
economy and a rich spiritual and cultural life.
2 In 1788 the British invaded this land and used
military force to begin the land grab which continues to
this day. The Aboriginal people fought back to protect their
lands. Aboriginal people suffered murder on a huge scale, death
through new diseases and poverty, and the destruction of much of
Aboriginal traditional society.
3 Despite having to fight a war for the land, the British
declared this continent terra nullius ? that the land was empty
and belonged to no-one when they colonised it.
4 For over 200 years the lie of terra nullius was the cruel and
brutal cover for the mass murder, for the refusal to recognise
Australia's indigenous race as people, for the forced removal of
children from their families, for the inhuman exploitation of the
labour of Aboriginal people, for the racist treatment and
apartheid Aboriginal people have been subjected to.
Terra Nullius was the justification for the denial of LAND
RIGHTS.
5 But the Aboriginal people have survived and their struggle for
LAND and JUSTICE has never ceased.
6 In June 1992, the High Court of Australia recognised the
concept of Native Title, stating it had existed before
settlement and had continued after colonisation.
However, it said Native Title was extinguished whenever
land had been sold or set aside for some other purpose.
7 The Howard Government's amendments to the Native Title Act have
opened the way for another massive land grab by miners and
pastoralists ? including Kerry Packer, Janet Holmes à Court and the
Sultan of Brunei ? as their leases are converted (de facto) to
freehold.
8 This may bring ""certainty"" to miners and pastoralists, the
certainty of knowing their ill-gotten wealth and profits are
secure. But for Aboriginal people it is, as Northern Land Council
Chairman Galarrwuy Yunupingu said, ""the final drink from the
poisonous water hole"".
9 Even though Native Title opens the way for only a small number
of Aboriginal people to make land claims, it should none-the-less
be protected from efforts to destroy it.
10 The High Court's extremely narrow interpretation of Native
Title in effect cuts off most Aboriginal people from making
legitimate claims to land.
11 Aboriginal people should not be forced to accept
the racist legal fiction that land they have been forcibly prevented
from maintaining a ""continuing association"" with is therefore
the property of the colonisers for all time.
12 In addition to Native Title for the few, there
should be LAND RIGHTS for ALL Aborigines.
13 LAND RIGHTS mean recognition of Aboriginal prior ownership of
all the continent of Australia. There must be legislation to
return land to its traditional owners on the basis of traditional
ownership, religious association, long occupancy and / or need,
including full rights to minerals and other natural resources. |
![]() |