Australia must act quickly to create certainty of land title following the Mabo decision or investment opportunities would be lost, the executive director of the Australian Mining Industry Association, Lauchlan McIntosh, said yesterday.
The future of the minerals industry depended on access to land. If access were cut or compensation costs imposed, the mining industry could not produce wealth at present rates.
However, the chairperson of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, Pat Dodson, warned last week against the “”quick fix”.
He said governments should not be stampeded into premature action.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people must be able to argue their own case on a full range of options, he said.
“”The great danger is that a quick fix in relation to land tenure has the potential to alienate the social, cultural and economic rights of indigenous people that are a critical part of the High Court’s reasoning,” he said.
The council has a two-year consultation program to see if a document of reconciliation should be prepared, and if so what form it should take.
The High Court brought down the Mabo judgment in June saying that white settlement did not extinguish indigenous title to land and Aboriginal and Islander people who could show continuous occupation and an adherence to group custom could claim the land.
Mr McIntosh agreed with Mr Dodson, however, on Mabo providing an opportunity “”to resolve long-standing issues about the rights of indigenous people within the structures of contemporary Australian society”.
“”More than any other community sector there has been close co-operation between mining companies and Aboriginal communities for decades,” he said. “”Initiatives such as training, housing and community facilities have long bee a feature of many arrangements agreed between Aboriginal people and mining companies.”
However, if Mabo resulted in Northern Territory-style land-rights legislation, Aborigines would not get that benefit. Large bureaucracies had been interposed between miners and traditional owners preventing mutually beneficial bargains.
The Northern Territory model was paternalistic because the title was inalienable. It was a second-class property right which could not be sold or borrowed against.
Mr McIntosh was speaking at the third annual Directions for Industry Conference.
Mr McIntosh welcomed statements by the Minister for Resources, Alan Griffiths that minerals and energy resources belonged to the Australian people and “”are developed on behalf of the Australian people”.
He called for confirmation of Crown ownership of minerals. This could be done without discrimination against all individuals, whatever title they had in land.
The mining industry was prepared to stand by Aboriginal people in the protection of their sacred sites, but this was a different issue from access to land.
Mabo had had a very negative impact on enthusiasm for exploration and investment in Australia. As mining was such a significant wealth-generator it was important to have legislation to clarify title.