… ABORIGINES SEEK AUTONOMY FIRST, SELF-DETERMINATION NEXT

Michael Mansell has described the decision by the COAG meeting as “a slap in the face for Aboriginal people seeking self-determination” and called on the Federal Parliament to refuse to pass the necessary legislation the NT government is after.

Mr Mansell said, “Aborigines own 50% of the NT and in 1998 voted down the proposal for NT Statehood because of fears of what might happen after the NT moved from self-governing to a full State. Yet the cabal of political leaders never thought to ask Aborigines what they thought of this latest push by the Giles government.

The Giles government only came up with this idea to put to COAG as a distraction from its shambolic hold on power in the NT. With the resignation of the Speaker this week, the Giles government is now in a minority, and is desperate to come up with ideas that might attract lost support back to its ranks.

Instead of going along with this absurd plan of Mr Giles, the COAG gathering should be discussing a sharing of power between the Northern Territory Assembly and Aboriginal people. The Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 vests authority over all Aboriginal lands in the Northern Territory Assembly. That needs to change. Priority should be to amending the Act so that an Aboriginal body, established by Federal legislation, dealt with Aboriginal owned or native title areas leaving the NT Assembly to deal with all other areas. Each body would have authority over approximately 50% of the Territory land mass.

There are many Aboriginal communities that are ready now for autonomy and self-governemnt. Experienced Land Councils operate in many of these areas and their involvement might be essential for self-government. The starting point is to encourage governments – Federal, State and Territory – to begin talks with the stake-holders. In this case the key stake-holder is Aboriginal people. Some Aboriginal groups will be more certain of their structural needs and goals than others, and engaging in talks hurt no one.”

Mr Mansell said he could not believe that “a major stake-holder in the debate about NT Statehood – the Aboriginal people – were completely ignored. It shows a continuation of the disregard Aborigines face from Australia’s political leaders. It also confirms that while discussion about constitutional recognition persists, Aboriginal self-determination is completely ignored.”
Michael Mansell Secretary, Aboriginal Provisional Government