Fw: for urgent attention pl- re 2021 ALRA Bill-tomorrow forum and Senate Inquiry submission due Nov 5th
Sabine Kacha
Dear All,
Please also see below an important email from ‘concerned Australians’.
We’d greatly appreciate if you would kindly invite your friends to tomorrow’s informative talk about these issues and share this info with your networks and/or social media.
Best regards,
Sabine
re: The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment (Economic Empowerment) Bill 2021
Friends
There will now be a Senate Committee Inquiry into the 2021 Bill which is due to report on 25 November. We thank sincerely those who wrote requesting an inquiry. Submissions are due by the end of next week-5th November! Time is so short.
So you know TOMORROW evening -Wednesday, 27 October at 7.30pm AEDT - Prof. Jon Altman AM will be speaking about some of the proposed changes to the iconic NT Aboriginal Land Rights Act which are currently being rushed through the federal parliament . To register for this talk please click on “Land Rights at Risk, again? Evaluation of the Economic Empowerment Bill”
Our previous email alerted to concerns cA have with the Bill which has strong bipartisan political support and the support of the land councils who it is said have co-designed the changes to the ALRA over 3 and a half years. Yet so few on the ground in the NT seem to have heard of, or about, the Bill! Negotiations and consultations with Traditional Owners are fundamental to the 1976 ALRA.
We believe the Bill requires amendments. It seems there has been insufficient consultations with Traditional Aboriginal Owners and communities despite the rhetoric in the Minister's media releases and parliamentary speeches ; the latter can be found on the Senate inquiry link site.
Senate Committee Inquiry - due to report on 25 November.
We call on your help once again. It is vital that we get as many submissions as possible to this Inquiry.
We invite you to place in a submission:
Senate Inquiry details and to place in submissions click on https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Finance_and_Public_Administration/ALREconomicEmpowerment
cA would be grateful if you would send in your submission, as individuals and/or as part of your organisation or group. It is vital we hear from Traditional Owners in the NT as well, if you have contacts in the NT please forward this email on. The changes are significant and complex-it needs broader discussion on the ground with Traditional Owners and Custodians,
Independent Member for Mulka (formerly Nhulunbuy) Mr Yingiya Mark Guyula MLA position on The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment (Economic Empowerment) Bill 2021 is :
" that the Bill should go to committee – as he has outlined in a letter to the Minister. This is the most significant piece of balanda law for Northern Territory Aboriginal Land Owners and it needs greater scrutiny and transparency. Consultation with Land Councils is vital but there also needs to be a broader discussion with TO’s out on country. The changes are significant and complex and Mr Guyula believes there should be an opportunity for further review, and possible amendments before being passed. Of significant concern to Yingiya is Section 1 of Medina’s [ICS] paper."
Further information:
· Prof Jon Altman AM 2021 brief assessment of the Bill: please click here
· Medina paper-commissioned by the Institute for Cultural Survival Inc (ICS) : please click here
· Letter from ‘concerned Australians’ to The Hon Ken Wyatt AM, MP: please click here
· Prof Jon Altman will speak about Land Rights at Risk, again? Evaluation of the Economic Empowerment Bill on Wed, 27 Oct, 7.30pm AEDT –
Please feel free to invite others to participate in both tomorrow evening's forum and the inquiry, remember submission are due Nov 5th 2021.
Please do not hesitate to contact me but please know I am travelling remotely with very unreliable internet and will respond as soon as possible. Or contact Pia at in...@concernedaustralians.com.au
With very many thanks
Georgina Gartland cA
www.concernedaustralians.com.au
'concerned Australians' acknowledge the
First Nations Peoples, the Traditional Owners of this land and
their many unique cultures and languages. We respect the knowledge and wisdom
of Elders past and present. They have never ceded their sovereignty and we
commit to walking with them in their quest for truth, justice and treaties.