Issue Brief 20 / 1997

The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (ALRA) has been operating for 20 years. Its functions are largely financed from mining activity on Aboriginal land; 'mining royalty equivalents' are paid into the Aboriginals Benefit Trust Account (ABTA). The money paid into the ABTA is paid out in three ways:

• 30 per cent of the money received from any resource development project is paid through Aboriginal land councils to incorporated groups or royalty associations representing traditional owners of, or residents in, areas affected by mining;
• at least 40 per cent of ABTA income is paid to land councils to meet their running costs; and
• up to 30 per cent of ABTA income is paid as grants to be used to, or for, the benefit of Aboriginal people living in the Northern Territory.

The table shows how ABTA has spent the money in these three different ways. The ABTA has been criticised for not saving and investing enough of its income. When it was set up, however, the 40:30:30 formula recommended by Justice Woodward for using ABTA income treated the ABTA as a clearing house. The increase in land owned by Aboriginal people may be the best investment for the future of Indigenous people.

Land development

In the next 20 years the institutional structures of the ALRA will need to change from a focus on land claim to land development. Land councils will have to continue to represent their constituents as well as focusing on wider development concerns. Two issues in particular need to be addressed.

• The use of royalty equivalents paid to areas affected and improving the effectiveness of royalty associations.
• ABTA functions. The ABTA could be an overriding authority managing all financial resources raised from commercial activity on Aboriginal land, as well as development of that land. This may reduce past tensions between the ABTA and land councils, as supplementary funding for land councils reduced funds available to the ABTA for its granting purposes.

The ALRA and native title

The ALRA will be affected by native title issues. The Northern Territory Government may again attempt to dilute the existing right of veto in the ALRA because it is a far stronger property right than the right to negotiate in the Native Title Act 1993. Land councils should actively seek to develop solutions to any existing problems in the ALRA (including continuing concern about 'conjunctivity' or veto only applying at the exploration stage and not at the production stage), and actively market these solutions to the Federal Parliament. Land councils should maintain and strengthen their focus on development. This will require finding the right balance between acceptable development and uncontrolled developmentalism.

Land rights and economic development

In attempting to speculate about where Aboriginal economic development and land rights will be in 20 years time, it is useful to consider the following issues.

• Economic status

There has been little change in the overall economic status of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory since 1976. However, official statistics may not show some of the benefits to Aboriginal people of owning land, such as wildlife harvesting or non-market activities like hunting and gathering. It will take far more than 20 years to rectify the historical legacy associated with dispossession.

• Capital

If enhanced economic status is a goal, then land must be developed through mining, tourism, pastoralism or commercial harvesting. This will require access to capital, education, and entrepreneurship. While land councils have established development corporations, access to capital remains a real constraint on development. This is why accessing the ABTA's reserves for development purposes is important.

• Joint ventures

Accessing big business expertise by joint venturing is also important. If development is the goal, then ventures will need to be strictly commercial as in the activities of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commercial Development Corporation. Alternatively, in those situations where economic betterment is not a high priority goal then this can be accommodated, at least under current land rights legislation.

ABTA major expenditure categories, 1978-79 to 1995-96

Source: ABTA, Darwin, August 1996.

Conclusion

The past 20 years of land rights has been a positive first step toward social and economic equality for Indigenous Australians. The challenge now is to effectively utilise the economic institutions created under the ALRA to continue to head in the right direction in the next 20 years.

This issue brief summarised CAEPR Discussion Paper No. 126, 'Aboriginal economic development and land rights in the Northern Territory: past performance, current issues and strategic options', by J.C. Altman presented at the Land Rights: Past, Present and Future Conference convened to celebrate 20 years of Land Rights in the Northern Territory in 1996. It was prepared by Hilary Bek and Lynette Liddle.