2016-05-26
Mr BARBER (Northern Metropolitan) — As other speakers have said, there are a number of parcels of land here that are having their status changed. For the most part that is an uncontroversial set of issues. However, this is the second time we have had cause to raise with government the question of the native title settlement framework. In fact there is a third bill now coming through the Parliament in relation to other land reservation revocations — that one relates to more rural areas; this is largely an urban bill.
We learnt from Native Title Services that it recently wrote to Lisa Neville when she was still the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water to raise concerns that the bill may impact upon or may have overlooked opportunities to involve the Wurundjeri-Woiwurrung traditional owners and consider their interests in relation to the parcels of land dealt with in the bill. That particular owner group, we are informed, has provided to the Department of Justice and Regulation a statement of its intent to enter into negotiations with the state of Victoria under the Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010.
As recently as this February it was suggested that given the statement of intent provided by the traditional owner group it would now be appropriate that the state treat all potential significant land use activity as defined in section 27 of the settlement act as if it were subject to a land use activity agreement and to refer such proposed land uses to the Wurundjeri-Woiwurrung negotiation team. Just quoting the letter here, it says:
From the detail in the second-reading speech of 13 April 2016 and the text of the bill, opportunities for Wurundjeri-Woiwurrung traditional owner involvement appear to exist in relation to the … 'old Fitzroy gasworks site' …
They look forward to working with the state to ensure those opportunities in transactions and dealings will occur. I believe that as a result of this correspondence the government is now finally fully engaged with the question of the traditional owner settlement framework and how it relates to dealings with Crown land, such as those here.
When we receive the bill, which is working its way up from the lower house, for further revocations, particularly in relation to the north-west part of Victoria, the government will be able to report that it has fully consulted not just those with live negotiations underway but those who have expressed interest or those whose claims are being reformulated and reconsidered, because the Greens together with Labor have always supported through this place the creation and total fulfilment of that native title settlement framework. We want to make sure that with legislation like this we are not inadvertently or carelessly destroying opportunities to achieve the very fine objectives and great goodwill that has been put into the native title settlement framework. Apart from that, I do not have any further remarks to make about this bill.
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