Land Rights and Native Title

1. Land Rights and Native Title Aboriginal Events and Issues

2. You will need to outline the important events over time. • What happened? • Why significant? • Link to changing right and freedoms Activity

3. Terra Nullius - 1788 • Captain Arthur Phillip accepted the idea in 1788 • If uninhabited land was discovered by the British its was declared “Terra Nullius” – land belonging to no one. • Captain James Cook did this when he landed in Eastern Australia in 1770

4. Terra Nullius continued... • Terra Nullius meant; • No treaty had to be signed • Natives could not claim common law rights over their land • It legalised the steady dispossession over the next century

5. The Bark Petition - 1963 • The petition failed as the NT Supreme Court confirmed the notion of Terra Nullius and said the Yolngu people had no special rights to the land. • It was not until the 1960s that Land Rights became an issue in Australian politics • In 1963 the Yolngu people from Yirrkala on the Grove Peninsula in the NT sent a petition written on bark to the Federal government protesting about being driven off their land for a mine.

6. The Gurindji – 1966 - 1975 • In 1966 the Gurindji people of the NT went on strike over their terrible living and working conditions at Wave Hill. • The following year, led by Vincent Lingiari, they petitioned Federal government for a return of their traditional land.

7. In August 1966, Aboriginal pastoral workers walked off the job on the vast Vesteys' cattle station at Wave Hill in the Northern Territory. At first they expressed their unhappiness with their poor working conditions and disrespectful treatment. Conversations between stockmen who had worked for Vesteys and Dexter Daniels, the North Australian Workers' Union Aboriginal organiser, led to the initial walk off. The next year the group moved to Wattie Creek, a place of significance to the Gurindji people. They asked Frank Hardy to 'make a sign' which included the word 'Gurindji', their own name for themselves. Their disaffection was deeper than wages and working conditions. Although these stockmen and their families could not read, they understood the power of the white man's signs. Now their name for themselves, written on a sign, asserted a claim to Gurindji lands. “I bin thinkin' this bin Gurindji country. We bin here longa time before them Vestey mob.” Vincent Lingiari.

8. The Gurindji continued... • In a gesture of support, 9 years later, Prime Minister Whitlam travelled to the NT and handed over to Lingiari and the Gurindji some of their land that they had been denied in court • Whitlam symbolically poured the soil into Lingiari’s hands

9. On 16 August 1975, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam came to Daguragu. As he poured a handful of Daguragu soil into Vincent Lingiari's hand, he said: “Vincent Lingiari, I solemnly hand to you these deeds as proof in Australian law that these lands belong to the Gurindji people, and I put into your hands part of the earth as a sign that this land will be the possession of you and your children forever.”

10. Aboriginal Tent Embassy and Flag - 1972 • The Aboriginal Flag was raised at this time. • On 20 July 1972 the tents were pulled down by police. It still stands today. • In 1972, on Australia Day, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was set up on the lawns of Parliament House Canberra. • It highlighted the claim for land rights and the awful living conditions of most Aboriginal people

11. Woodward Royal Commission – Aboriginal Land Rights - 1974 • Launching his party's election campaign, Labor leader Gough Whitlam said: • “We will legislate to give Aboriginal Land Rights - because all of us as Australians are diminished while the Aborigines are denied their rightful place in this nation.” Gough Whitlam • The Woodward Royal Commission delivered its report into the issue of land rights in federal territory • The Australian Labor Party pledged to support Aboriginal land rights as part of its successful 1972 election platform.

12. Justice Woodward reported that the aims of land rights were: The doing of simple justice to a people who have been deprived of their land without their consent and without compensation. The preservation, where possible, of the spiritual link with his own land which gives each Aboriginal his sense of identity and which lies at the heart of his spiritual beliefs. Justice Woodward recommended that these aims could be best achieved by: Preserving and strengthening all Aboriginal interests in land and rights over land which exist today, particularly all those having spiritual importance. Ensuring that none of these interests or rights are further whittled away without consent, except in those cases where the national interest positively demands it - and then only on terms of just compensation.

13. Fraser’s Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act - 1976 • Aboriginal people could now claim crown land not being used by other people. • An Aboriginal Lands Council was used to control this land • The first attempt to legally recognise the Aboriginal system of land ownership

14. Questions: • Why were these events significant in the changing rights and freedoms of Aboriginal people? • What didn’t change for Aboriginal people?

15. Native Title Land Rights

16. Native Title – A Definition • Native Title is a legal term that recognises the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to use and occupy lands with which they have maintained a continuing, traditional connection.

17. Mabo - 1992 • In the 1970s the Qld government began to remove the land rights of the people of Mer (Murray) Island in the Torres Strait. • One of the Meriam People, Eddie Mabo, took the Qld gov. to try to stop them – he lost the case

18. Mabo – 1992 continued... • The case eventually reached the High Court of Australia in Canberra. • They found in Favour of Mabo and the Meriam people and recognised the principle of Native Title. • Sadly Eddie Mabo had died 6 months before this happened

19. Mabo – 1992 - continued... • The High Court’s 1992 Mabo decision was extremely important; • The Mabo decision meant the concept of Terra Nullius was over turned. • It stated that native title to land existed before the arrival of European settlers

20. The Native Title Act - 1993 • Passed in 1993 by the Keating government, this act accepted the notion of Native Title into law and also recognised the rights of owners of freehold property. • To claim Aboriginal communities must show continuous connection to that land through traditional laws and customs to the time of 1788. • Can only be claimed over Crown and other public lands • In many cases it does not mean legal ownership, just the right to use the land in traditional ways – hunting, fishing and ceremonies

21. WIK - 1996 • Pastoralists were now concerned. They leased property from the government. • Could Aboriginal people claim Native Title over these lands? • The law caused tension and insecurity.

22. WIK – 1996 – continued... • The WIK decision of 1996 saw the High Court rule that Native Title could co-exist with the rights of leaseholders. • The Pastoralists and Mining Companies felt the court was too sympathetic to Aboriginal people and Native Title.

23. Native Title Amendment Act - 1997 • Passed by Howard in 1997. • Said that Native Title and Pastoral Rights could coexist, but in any conflict of interest – the rights of the leaseholders would come first.

24. Match the events and put them in order • The Wik decision • The Aboriginal Tent Embassy and Flag • The Wave Hill Protest • The Bark Petition • Terra Nullius • The Mabo decision • Woodward Royal Commission • The Native Title Act • The Native Title Amendment • Land belonging to no-one. Declared by Captain Cook • Aboriginal Land rights enquiry • Native Title and lease holders rights can coexist • Yolngu request for land • Gurindji people’s request for wages and land • An Aboriginal protest over land rights and living conditions • Law enshrining Native Title • High Court ruling recognising native title • Law giving leaseholder’s rights priority over Native Title Event Description

25. Match the events and put them in order • Terra Nullius 1788 • The Bark Petition 1963 • The Wave Hill Protest 1966 – 1975 • The Aboriginal Tent Embassy and Flag 1972 • Woodward Royal Commission 1974 • The Mabo decision 1992 • The Native Title Act 1993 • The Wik decision 1996 • The Native Title Amendment 1997 • Land belonging to no-one. Declared by Captain Cook • Yolngu request for land • Gurindji people’s request for wages and land • An Aboriginal protest over land rights and living conditions • Aboriginal Land rights enquiry • Law enshrining Native Title • High Court ruling recognising native title • Native Title and lease holders rights can coexist • Law giving leaseholder’s rights priority over Native Title Event Description

27. The time has comeTo say fair's fairTo pay the rentTo pay our shareThe time has come A fact's a factIt belongs to themLet's give it backMidnight Oil, Beds are Burning, 1987