11/0/08; http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/letters/index.php/ theaustralian/comments/nothing_to_hide/
I take issue with Christopher Pearson’s analysis of the issues facing Aboriginal people in Central Australia (”Reflection beckons as intervention bears fruit”, Inquirer, 4-5/10) and particularly his reference to “dysfunctional land councils with plenty to hide”.
The Central Land Council has nothing to hide. It’s an Australian government statutory authority and its annual reports are tabled in the parliament for every Australian to see. Its governance is best practice and is better than many other Australian and Northern Territory government departments. And the point must be made that if there had been proper accountability of commonwealth funding to the Northern Territory government through the Commonwealth Grants Commission in the first place, the so-called emergency intervention would not have been necessary.
The Central Land Council, which represents the views of approximately 25,000 Aboriginal people in Central Australia, is continually, and disproportionately, subject to government reviews and audits and consistently emerges as operationally and financially sound and has been for more than 30 years.
Inalienable collective title to land is not, as Pearson asserts, “an ill-considered fad of the ‘70s”. Nor is it “one of the weakest and most inflexible forms of title ever devised”. It’s a very standard and common form of title freehold held by a trust. Through leases, it has enabled mining exploration, railways, pipelines and telecommunications and has allowed Aboriginal people to work with developers to pursue significant economic development. They are now spending their returns on these developments to provide services for themselves that other Australians take for granted. David Ross; Director, Central Land Council; Alice Springs, NT
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Reconciliation