Our Land, Our Sea, Our Life
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Our Land, Our Sea, Our Life ANNUAL REPORT 2017/18 Our Land, Our Sea, Our Life © Commonwealth of Australia 2018 ISSN 1030-522X With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms and where otherwise noted, all material presented in this document, the Northern Land Council Annual Report 2017/18, is provided under a Creative Commons Licence. The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the Creative Commons website at creativecommons.org/licences/ by/3.0/au/, as is the full legal code for the CC BY 3 AU licence Red Flag Dancers perform at Ngukurr. NORTHERN LAND COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2017/18 OUR VALUES ... OUR VISION … We will: is to have the land and sea rights of • Consult with and act with the informed Traditional Owners and affected Aboriginal consent of Traditional Owners in accordance people in the Top End of the Northern with the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. Territory recognised and to ensure that Aboriginal people benefit socially, • Communicate clearly with Aboriginal culturally and economically from the secure people, taking into account the possession of our land, waters and seas. linguistic diversity of the region. • Respect Aboriginal law and tradition. WE AIM TO… • Be responsive to Aboriginal peoples’ needs achieve enhanced social, political and and effectively advocate for their interests. economic participation and equity for Aboriginal people through the promotion, • Be accountable to the people we represent protection and advancement of our land • Behave in a manner that is appropriate rights and other rights and interests. and sensitive to cultural differences. • Act with integrity, honesty and fairness. • Uphold the principles and values of social justice. • Treat our stakeholders with respect. i Our Land, Our Sea, Our Life ii NORTHERN LAND COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2017/18 About this report The Northern Land Council’s Annual Report 2017/18 provides a comprehensive account of its performance from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018 in accordance with its obligations under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, the Native Title Act 1993 and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (referred to throughout this document as the ALRA, the NTA and the PGPA Act, respectively). The Annual Report 2017/18 is divided into five parts: • About Us: Our Land, Our Sea, Our Life; history; our people and organisational structure. • The Year in Review: The major issues and achievements for the reporting year. • Corporate Governance and Management. • Financial Statements: Details on income and expenses for both the NLC as a Commonwealth entity and as a native title representative body. • Appendices and references. The NLC submits this report to the Minister for Indigenous Affairs for tabling in the Australian Parliament. iii Our Land, Our Sea, Our Life iv NORTHERN LAND COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2017/18 Contents OUR VALUES, OUR VISION, OUR AIMS i REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT BRANCH 100 ABOUT THIS REPORT iii Land Use Agreements 101 ACCOUNTABLE AUTHORITY 03 Commercial development 110 FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE SUMMARY 04 FINANCIAL SUMMARY 2017/18 05 Pastoral activities 118 FROM OUR CHAIRMAN 09 MINERALS AND ENERGY BRANCH 130 FROM OUR CEO 13 Activities 134 Land Rights Act Part IV (Mining) 138 PART 1: ABOUT US 18 Native Title Act 1993 144 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 23 COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 150 MANAGEMENT 29 PART 3: CORPORATE 156 PART 2: THE YEAR IN REVIEW 36 Corporate plan 157 ANTHROPOLOGY BRANCH 38 Strategic Plan 157 Branch review and restructure 38 Public awareness and education 164 Royalties reform 39 Human resources 168 Dispute conciliation 41 Workplace Diversity and Inclusion 173 Present and future challenges 41 Management of annual Land Interest References 42 performance statement 182 GIS section 44 Regional profiles 47 PART 4: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 190 LEGAL BRANCH 58 SEA COUNTRY 70 PART 5: APPENDICES 252 CARING FOR COUNTRY BRANCH 78 COUNCIL MEETINGS ATTENDANCE 253 Indigenous protected areas 83 COMPLIANCE INDEX 257 Partnerships 89 Information Technology - data collection, GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS 259 mapping and reporting 89 Training, exchanges and capacity building 90 National Parks 95 v Our Land, Our Sea, Our Life Contact Us P: +61 (8) 8920 5100 / 1800 645 299 (Free Call) 8:00 - 4:30 pm (CST) weekdays F: +61 (8) 8945 2633 www.nlc.org.au I [email protected] [email protected] Northern Land Council GPO Box 1222, Darwin NT 0801 You can visit the NLC at the following offices: Region Location Address Phone Fax Darwin/Daly/ Darwin 45 Mitchell Street, Darwin NT 0800 (08) 8920 5100 (08) 8920 5255 Wagait Wadeye Lot 788, Kanarlda Street, 0418328843 Wadeye NT 0822 West Jabiru 3 Government Building, Flinders (08) 8938 3000 (08) 8979 2650 Arnhem Street, Jabiru NT 0886 Maningrida Lot 739, Maningrida NT 0822 0456467984 East Arnhem Nhulunbuy Endeavour Street, (08) 8986 8500 (08) 8987 1334 Nhulunbuy NT 0880 Galiwin’ku Lot 78, Nurruwurrunhan (08) 8970 5025 Road, Galiwin’ku Katherine Katherine 5 Katherine Terrace, (08) 8971 9899 (08) 8972 2190 Katherine NT 0850 Ngukurr Ngukurr Balamurra Street, (08) 8977 2500 (08) 8975 4601 Ngukurr NT 0852 Victoria River Timber 43 Wilson Street, Timber (08) 8974 5600 (08) 8975 0664 District Creek Creek NT 0850 Borroloola Borroloola Robinson Road, Mara Mara (08) 8975 7500 (08) 8975 8745 Barkly Camp, Borroloola NT 0854 Tennant 178 Paterson Street, (08) 8962 1884 (08) 8962 1636 Creek Tennant Creek NT 0860 vi NORTHERN LAND COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2017/18 Senator the Hon. Nigel Scullion Minister for Indigenous Affairs PO Box 6100 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Dear Minister, In accordance with the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, the Native Title Act 1993 and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, I am pleased to submit the Northern Land Council’s 2017/18 Annual Report. The Accountable Authority under Section 46 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 is responsible for the preparation and content of this report in accordance with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014. This report reviews the Northern Land Council’s performance and illustrates the commitment and achievement of the Council and our staff throughout the year. I commend the report to you for presentation to the Australian Parliament. Yours sincerely, Samuel Bush-Blanasi CHAIRMAN vii Our Land, Our Sea, Our Life 01 NORTHERN LAND COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2017/18 Highlights From 2017/18 Activities • The Executive Council, Full Council commercial rocket launching facility. and Chief Executive Officer approved • There are 3446 parcels of land in the 82 land use agreements under NLC region under a land use agreement, s19 of the Land Rights Act. 130 of them held by Indigenous • The NLC held consultations for companies and corporations. land use agreements that involved • The NLC received and registered 10,136 Traditional Owners and new expressions of interest affected Aboriginal people, meeting over 263 parcels of land. at 61 different locations. • The NLC processed 13,998 • The successful negotiation of an land access permits. Indigenous Land Use Agreement under • Under the ALRA, income of the Native Title Act 1993 was a major $56,201,000 was generated from step forward in the development of Aboriginal land during 2017/18. a gigantic prawn farm (Project Sea • A total of 7,191 royalty payments were Dragon) on Legune Station in the far made during 2017/18, worth $57,504,000. north-west of the Northern Territory. • As part of its plan to expand its regional • On the other side of the NLC region, network, the NLC opened a one-person near Gulkula in north east Arnhem office in Galiwin’ku on Elcho Island, taking Land, Gumatj Corporation obtained the number of regional offices to 10. a lease over 275ha for use as a 02 Our Land, Our Sea, Our Life The NLC’s Accountable Authority The Northern Land Council’s Accountable Authority, under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act), comprises the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer. SAMUEL BUSH-BLANASI, CHAIRMAN JOE MORRISON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Mr Bush-Blanasi is a Mayili man and resident Mr Morrison was born and raised in of the Wugularr (Beswick) community in Katherine and has Dagoman and Torres the Katherine region. He was educated in Strait Islander heritage. He took up the his own community before completing his CEO’s position in February 2014. studies at Kormilda College in Darwin. After completing school he gained a Mr Bush-Blanasi is a strong advocate for the BA from the University of Sydney in rights and interests of Aboriginal people. natural resource management. He is committed to achieving equality Mr Morrison has more than 20 years research for Aboriginal people to enable them to and development experience across northern participate in social, political and economic Australia, and was founding Chief Executive activities and to ensure the maintenance Officer of the North Australian Indigenous and protection of their cultural knowledge. Land and Sea Management Alliance. This is Mr Bush-Blanasi’s sixth term at the NLC. He has authored and co-authored He is also a board member of the many articles relating to Indigenous Aboriginal Investment Group, and has rights, management of country, a long record of service on boards of economic development, and issues several other Aboriginal bodies. relating to northern development. Mr Morrison’s work was recognised on 22 June 2018 when the University of New South Wales awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree. 03 NORTHERN LAND COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2017/18 Financial Performance Summary The NLC is primarily funded through External Funding the Aboriginals Benefit Account (ABA), NLC receives additional grant based an account into which the Australian funding from a number of sources, the Government pays an amount of money major external funding sources include: equal to the royalties paid from mining on Aboriginal land.