The Territory Coordinator Bill should not proceed, Traditional Owners said on Wednesday after the release of a report recommending minor changes to the proposed NT legislation.
The inquiry report by the Northern Territory Legislative Scrutiny Committee on the bill recommends the NT government pass it with minor amendments despite the legislation facing significant public opposition.
The Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation representing Traditional Owners from the Beetaloo Basin, and Mabo lawyer Greg McIntyre SC, provided evidence at the Darwin scrutiny committee hearings for the controversial NT Coordinator Bill in late February.
On Wednesday Nurrdalinji chairperson Samuel Janama Sandy, a Djingili elder from Elliott in the heart of the Beetaloo Basin, said the bill should not become law.
"This bill is no good, it puts too much power in the hands of one person. Why should a former gas boss get to decide what happens on our country?" he said.
"It's clear from this report that the Territory government doesn't take Traditional Owner concerns seriously. We told the committee that our old people fought long and hard for their rights so that we can make decisions about what happens on our country, and it looks like they are trying to undo all of that.
"It's wrong that the government is trying to sidestep laws. It's all Traditional Owners have to protect our country, our heritage and our water.
"These laws are going to just create more uncertainty and open up the NT government for all sorts of mess that is going to end up costing money that should be spent on health, housing and community."
Mr McIntyre SC, a former Law Council of Australia president who represented Eddie Mabo in the landmark native title case and also appeared as an advisor to Nurrdalinji at the hearing, is quoted in the Inquiry report (page 48): "This is an extraordinary piece of legislation which gives unprecedented powers to a public servant… It is a very unusual piece of legislation to have before any parliament. It has extraordinary powers of allowing this Territory Coordinator to step into the place of existing decision-makers to vary conditions which they previously placed upon approvals."
Nurrdalinji Native Title Aboriginal Corporation has raised various concerns with the proposed legislation, including what it describes as: the attack on the rights of Traditional Owners to self-determine what development happens on country and their ability to protect land, water and sacred sites; the erosion of Native Title and other First Nations' rights; the broad and undefined nature of the legislation and the excessive powers the legislation gives the Territory Coordinator, with little oversight; and the threat to laws protecting cultural heritage.
The Corporation has members across the Beetaloo Basin and Barkly regions. It includes native title holders from the Amungee Mungee, Beetaloo, Hayfield, Kalala, Newcastle Waters - Murranji, Nutwood Downs, Shenandoah, Tandyidgee, Tanumbirini, Daly Waters Township, and Ucharonidge native title determinations.
