Gould, Ian --- "Recent Happenings" [2002] IndigLawB 47; (2002) 5(18) Indigenous Law Bulletin 24

Recent Happenings

Compiled by Ian Gould

1 June

The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Philip Ruddock said that native title had not improved Aboriginal conditions and it was time to focus on how the land could be used as ‘leverage’ to create prosperity through business ventures or investment. The Weekend Australian reported Mr Ruddock describing the past decade as a success in ‘just handing over titles’, and addressing the cultural and spiritual needs of Aborigines, without delivering improved economic conditions. As part of this new focus, Mr Ruddock was considering reforming Northern Territory native title legislation.

4 June

A new book, designed to safeguard Aboriginal heritage, has been published by the Australian Heritage Commission. Ask First: A Guide to Respecting Indigenous Heritage Places and Values aims to mitigate damage caused by development initiatives, according to the commission’s chairman, Tom Harley. The book was the result of a three-year consultation process involving Indigenous organisations, governments and heritage professionals.

5 June

The Royal College of Surgeons of England returned the partial remains of Truganini to an Aboriginal delegation from Tasmania. The remains included samples of hair and skin from the Aboriginal woman, who was renowned for her resistance to 19th century European settlers. Truganini died in 1876 aged 64, but her remains were later exhumed and some were taken to Britain.

9 June

Australia’s judiciary is reviewing its sentencing procedures in an attempt to decrease the number of Aboriginal inmates in Australian prisons. One initiative in effect in South Australia is community mediation in court proceedings. The outgoing president of the Association of Australian Magistrates, Fred Field, said the reforms aimed to reduce the rigidity of the Anglo-Saxon court structure and allow more interaction between sentencing magistrates and Aboriginal elders.

12 June

A significant increase in property crime in the Northern Territory in 2001 showed that the Country Liberal Party’s mandatory sentencing policy was a failure, according to the Northern Territory’s current Labor government. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released last month revealed that illegal activities increased by 19.5 percent in the Northern Territory last year. The territory’s Attorney-General, Peter Toyne, said that this increase indicated the failure of mandatory sentencing. Meanwhile, Northern Territory Police Commissioner Paul White said that new strategies to address property crime would be unveiled in the next six months.

13 June

Australia should continue to embrace the fusion of Indigenous and western justice systems, according to the chairman of the Lingiari Foundation, Patrick Dodson. Addressing the Courts and Indigenous Cultural Awareness conference as keynote speaker, Mr Dodson said that some justice programs had been successful, but a wider approach was required. He said that the matching of Aboriginal and western legal systems would mean higher Indigenous participation in dispute resolution and justice matters.

15 June

A Federal Court decision that native title over a central Queensland property had been extinguished, has been described as ‘of limited significance’ by the National Native Title Tribunal. Although the President of the Tribunal, Graeme Neate, said the ruling was a first for Queensland, he said that it created no new law. He added that the decision was restricted to the facts of the case in question. The decision arose from a non-claimant application brought by pastoralist, Noel Kennedy.

22 June

One of the country’s most celebrated Aboriginal artists died in Alice Springs, aged 70. The artist, whose name was not released, was made an Officer of the Order of Australia less than two weeks before he passed away. The artist’s works of the Northern Territory’s Western Desert toured throughout the world, and his paintings also feature in Canberra’s National Gallery and in the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

24 June

Young Aboriginal men suicide at four times the rate of non-Indigenous males, while young Aboriginal women are three times as likely as non-Aboriginal females to kill themselves, a suicide prevention conference in Sydney has been told. Diane Taylor, an ATSIC councillor, said that factors such as domestic violence, substance abuse and a lack of mental health resources explained the trend. Conference delegates also heard that elderly Aborigines were increasingly at risk of suicide.

28 June

After a 12-month investigation, police have decided not to lay sexual assault charges against ATSIC chairman Geoff Clark because of insufficient evidence. Three women made rape allegations against Mr Clark, and a fourth alleged threatened sexual assault. Mr Clark denied the allegations, claiming they were politically motivated.