Cabinet Minute
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DECISION NO. CABINET MINUTE BRISBANE o?b I 9 /19 ?'? ' SUBJECT:----------------------------------------~----------------~ Aborigine s a nd Torre s Strait Islande rs Commission Bill. ------------------------------(Su bmiss ion No. 4 9 76¥ ) do :"pies Received at /C · /~ ~ o2. b I 9 119 /'j/' Copies Made CIRCULATION DETAILS GOVERNOR Decision F ile 1 21 MR. AHERN 2 22 /~ r:~- ~ - I ~ 3 23 ... Copy of refeva MR. GUNN /IL \r J h ~;,..,.. ; - . r ~nn; ~. ~v·' .1f:·'l\( _?<~ - , Y re 1\':;Vtlll 4 MR. GIBBS 24 7 ~ . ~ . i ~L c::<:: i f"\n .,t- ~r he r MR .. GLASSOt ~I' ~ 5 25 g_ J •. - ,... " : rr: _, ~ . .... MR. AUSTIN 11 6 26 ~ <.-~ -? MR. LESTER 7 27 Ml<. .1..t:;NNl 8 28 9 MR. HARPER 29 10 MR. MUNTZ 30 11 MR. MCKECHfl IE 31 12 MR. KATTER 32 . 13 MR. NEAL 33 14 MR. CLAUSO~ 34 . MR. BORBIDG E 15 35 16 MR. RANDELL 36 17 MR. COOPER 37 18 MR. HARVEY 38 MR. LITTLEP ROUD 19 39 Master File 20 40 Kodak Color Control Patcne&DYzW Blue Cyan Green -- -~ _, ,_ - Copy Noo 20 C 0 N F I D E N T I A L C A B I N E T 1'·1 I N U T E Brisbane, 26th September, 1988 Decision Noo 55205 Submission No. 49764 TITLE: Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders Comm i ssion Billo CABINET decided :- 1 0 That full details of any potentially d isrup tive legal consequences of the Commonwealth Bill be urgently conveyed to Cabinet for consideration. n :;· 3 n That any possibility of invalidity of the Bill should be examined ...::>" and acted upon if requisite. CD .. c: CD g; • That the Department of Community Se rvices, in conjunction with the Solicitor-General's Office, continue its urgent assessment of Q. the practical consequences for State administration. QI n ~ ~ () :::J 0 -0 """"'C CIRCULATION: Department of Community Servic es and Ethnic Affairs and copy to Ministero ~ () Premier : s Department and copy to Premier and Treasure r . !g Treasury Department and copy to Minister. ,..... Department of Justice and copy to Minister. a Solicitor-General. - All other Ministers for perusal and return. ~ '""O - QJ i rt ~ Certified True Copy 49764 Security Classification " C" - Confidential 21 FOR CABINET Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders Commission Bill 1. On the 23rd August, 1988, the Right Honourable the Prime Minister gai n ed a Re s olution from the Hous e of Representatives , a copy of which is attached (Attachment A) . 2 . On September 1st, the House of Representatives also passed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Commission Bill, the Preamble to which expa nded o n the Resolution r eferred to in parag raph 1. A copy of the Preamble is attached (Attachment B). 3 . I t w i 11 be noted th a t the Co mm on we a 1 th Par l i amen t i s i n the process of:- (i) Accepting that Aborigines and Islanders occupied and owned Australia prior to the British settlement in CD 1788. c: <D ~ ( ii ) Noting the lack of compensation for dispossessi o n Q. and dispersal. GI ...... (iii ) Acknowledgi ng that " land rights" have not been 0 ~ provided, other than by statutory Acts of Federal ~ () :J and State Parliament . 0 0- (iv) Acknowledging that the Courts have not as yet mad e -, any determination in issues of Aboriginal title. ;G> () 4. It is clear that should the Bill receive assent, litigation ~g I"+ based on these acknowledgements will follow and the land rights movement take on a new dimension of alarming a .... proportion involving, as it will, matters of both title and - (,) compensation. 5. The Bill also establishes an elected Aboriginal b ody exceeding the previous National Aboriginal Conference in both number, authority and access to finance . The Commi ssion will become a massive quango involving itself with both State and Local Government of its own authority. The Commission is subject to no more Ministerial direction than any other Commonwealth statutory authority . 6. The complexity of both the Bi 11 itself and its potential repercussions throughout the State require careful attention. I understand that the Solicitor-General has provided advice to the Premier's Department on these matters. 12 2 . 7 . IT IS RECOMMENDED - ( i ) That full details of any potentially disruptive legal conseque nces of the Bill be urg e ntly conveyed to Cabinet for consideration; ( i i ) That a n y possibility of invalidity of the Bill should be examin ed and acted upon if requisite; ( iii) That my Department , in conjunction with the Solicitor - General ' s Office continue its urgent assessme nt of the practical consequences for State adm inistration . R.C. KATTER Minister for Northern Development, Community Services and Ethnic Affairs BRISBANE 26 September , 1988 a- ATTA CHMEN T A Aboriginal Occupation of Australia 23 August 1988 REPRESENTATIVES 13 7 Tuesday, 2 3 August 1988 ~_<:~n_9-~1~5":!~-~ - th at:_ - -(a) A~sti=;; l ia was -occupied by Aborigines and 1 T orres Strait Islanders wh o had settled j Madam S PEAK ER (Hon. J oan Child ) for thousands of years before Bri tish set- ; took the chair at 2 p.m ., and read prayers. tlement at Sydney Cove on 26 January I 1788; I 1 ELECTORAL DIVISION OF OXLEY (b) Aborigines and Torres Strait Isla nders Resignation of Member- Issue of Writ suffered dispossession and dispersal upon Madam SPEAKER- Order! I formally acquisi tion of their traditional lands by , the Britis h C rown; and I inform the House that on 17 August 1988 I received a letter from the Hon. Bill Hayden (c) Abo ri gi nes and Torres Strai t Islanders ! were denied full citizenship rights of the j I resigning his seat as the member for the Commonwealth of Australia prior to the 1 electoral division of Oxley. It is my intention 1967 Referendum; ! to issue a writ on Monday, 5 September __02._f!i_~s_: . 1988 , for the election of a member to serve (a) the importance of Aboriginal and Torres fo r the electoral div ision of Oxley, in the Strait Isla nder culture and heri tage; a nd State of Queensland, to fill the vacancy (b) the entitlement of Aborigines and Torres I caused by the resignation of Mr Hayden. Strait Islanders to self-management and The dates in connection with the by-election self-<ieterrninalion subject to the Consti- 1 will be fixed as follows: the close of rolls, lution and the laws of the Common- Monday, 12 September 1988; nomination, wealth of Australia; and I Friday, 16 September 1988; polling day, ( 3) considers it desirable that the Commonwcalt h Saturday, 8 October 1988; return of writ, on further promote reconciliation with Aborigi or before Wednesday, 14 December 1988. nal and Torres Strait Islander citizens provid ing recognition of their special place in the DEATHS OF FORMER MEMBER AND Commonwealth of Australia. FORMER SENATOR Yesterday we celebrated the opening of the Madam SPEAKER-I inform the House Parliament's new and permanent home with of the deaths, since the House last met, of ceremony and with, dignity, in a spirit of Mr Frank Olley, a former member of this amity, and with a renewed determination to House, and former Senator Ronald Edward fulfil our responsibilities to serve the people McAuliffe, OBE. Frank Olley died on 21 of Australia. Today the ceremonies are over July. He represented the division of Hume and we are getting down to work. It is my from 1972 to 1974. Ron McAuliffe died on belief that we cannot afford easily to put 16 August. He represented the State of aside that constructive awareness of our na Queensland in the Senate from 1971 to 1981. tional obligation which pervaded the opening As a mark of respect to the memory of the of this building. It is with that in mind that deceased, I invite honourable members to I am moving this motion and seeking for it rise in their places. the wholehearted support of the House. Question resolved in the affirmative, This motion is not another item of cere honourable members standing in their places. mony to be performed and then forgotten when we get down to the real business of ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION OF AUSTRALIA politics. This motion is our real busines, the beginning of our parliamentary duties in our Suspension of Standing and Sessional new building. In our bicentennial year, and Orders at the outset of our first working day in this Motion (by Mr Beazley) agreed to: chamber, a motion such as this could hardly That so much of the standing and sessional orders be more appropriate, because our new begin be suspended as would prevent notice No. 2, govern nings in this building allow us to focus with ment business, being called on forthwith. fresh minds on the great question, the great challenge, propose by our celebrating of 200 Motion years of European settlement, that is, the Mr HAWKE (Wills-Prime Minister) nation's relationship with its Aboriginal and (2.04)-1 move: Torres Strait Islander citizens. At the start That this House- of our becentennial year the Australian heads ATTACHMENT B A BILL FOR An Act to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Isla nd e r Commission, and for related purposes WHEREAS the Australian people voted overwhelmingly to amend th': Australian Constitution to provide the P .a~liament of the Comr_nonwea 1t i• ! with power to make laws for the Abongrnal and Torres Strait Isl andc !: peoples; 5 l! AND WHEREAS the people whose descendants are now known as t h·~ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia were the prier occupiers and original owners of this land; I• 1 AND WHEREAS they were dispossessed by subsequent Europe:111 j occupation and have no recognised rights over land yet recognised by the 10 \l Courts <?the(' than those granted or recognised by the Crown; li AND WHEREAS that dispossession occurred without compensa ti l'll !; and