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Australian Government tries to turn back the clock to the days of dispossession

Action Bulletin

October 1997 - The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia have only had their land rights recognised since 1992. In that year the High Court finally overthrew the 200-year-old legal fiction of terra nullius' - that Australia was an uninhabited land that belonged to no-one when it was colonised. The 1992 decision, known as Mabo, recognised for the first time the concept of 'native title'.

A 1996 decision, known as Wik, clarified what 'native title' meant. In particular, it became clear that native title could still exist on land covered by 'pastoral leases' - the huge sheep and cattle ranches which cover much of outback Australia and on which many Aboriginal people continue to live.

These two decisions, while still leaving Australia far behind many Third World' countries in its recognition of indigenous rights, have been fiercely opposed by the powerful farming and mining industries. As a result, the government is trying to undermine the legal victories won by indigenous peoples.

The Prime Minister John Howard has proposed amendments to the Native Title Act which will render these victories meaningless. Crucially, the amendments will make native title worthless on pastoral leases and leave many Aborigines unable even to claim native title in the first place. Together these measures will leave the huge majority of Aborigines with no meaningful rights to their land.

In a report to Parliament, the independentAustralian Law Reform Commission called the Howard proposals unconstitutional and racially discriminatory. The government is alleged to have tried to suppress the report.

The Aboriginal representative Mick Dodson has said, "If you take our land, you take the ground of our culture. If you keep on taking there will be nothing left."

This action bulletin is from the National Indigenous Working Group on Native Title (NIWG) and Survival International

Further information: native title issues page - includes news index and external links