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CAEPR Monograph 14 CONTRIBUTIONS BY Jon Altman David Pollack Brian Galligan John Quiggin C entre for Robert Levitus Tim Rowse David Martin Peter Sutton A boriginal Howard Morphy John Taylor E conomic Martin Mowbray Ian Viner P olicy Garth Nettheim Ernst Willheim The Australian National University R esearch Nicolas Peterson Nancy Williams Land Rights at Risk? Evaluations of the Reeves Report of the Reeves Rights Risk?Land at Evaluations In Building on Land Rights for the Next Generation: Report of the Review of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Land Rights at Risk? Act 1976 (the Reeves Report) John Reeves QC proposes fundamental and controversial changes to land rights law in the Northern Territory. Land Rights at Risk? is the Evaluations of the published outcome of a conference – ‘Evaluating the Reeves Report: Cross Disciplinary Perspectives’ – convened in Reeves Report response by the department of Archaeology and Anthropology and The Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University, and held at Fenner Hall, Canberra 26–27 March 1999. Edited by J.C. Altman, F. Morphy In this monograph the broad scope of the conference is J.C. Altman, F. Morphy and T. Rowse (Eds) T. and Morphy F. Altman, J.C. and T. Rowse maintained, and the sixteen published papers represent a cross-section of disciplines from the social sciences and humanities including social anthropology, political science, law, economics, public policy, geography and social work. The majority of the contributors have a long-term professional involvement in land rights issues. Taken as a whole this volume provides a comprehensive and informed critique of the Reeves Report, and it will be essential reading for all those concerned with the Reeves recommendations and their implications. CAEPR RESEARCH MONOGRAPH NO.14 CAEPR RESEARCH MONOGRAPH CAEPR RESEARCH Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research The Australian National University MONOGRAPH Research Monograph No.14 NO. 14 ISSN 14 ISBN Land Rights at Risk? Evaluations of the Reeves Report Edited by J. C. Altman, F. Morphy and T. Rowse Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research The Australian National University, Canberra Research Monograph No. 14 1999 First published in Australia 1999. © The individual authors and, in the work as a whole, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University 1999 This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealings for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be directed to the publisher, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia. National Library of Australia. Cataloguing-in-publication entry. Land Rights at Risk? Evaluations of the Reeves Report. Bibliography ISSN 1036-6962 ISBN 0 7315 5106 0 1. Reeves, John. Building on land rights for the next generation. 2. Aborigines, Australian – Land tenure. 3. Aborigines, Australian – Legal status, laws, etc. 4. Aborigines, Australian – Economic conditions. 5. Land tenure – Law and legislation – Australia. I. Altman, Jon C., 1954–. II. Rowse, Tim, 1951–. III. Morphy, Frances, 1949–. IV. Reeves, John. Building on land rights for the next generation. V. Australian National University. Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research. (Series: Research monograph (Australian National University. Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research); no. 14). 346.940432 Copy-edited and designed by Green Words & Images, Canberra Printed by National Capital Printing Contents Preface v List of abbreviations ix Introduction 1 Tim Rowse 1. The Reeves Report as public policy 11 Brian Galligan 2. Reeves in the context of the history of land rights 25 legislation: anthropological aspects Nicolas Peterson 3. The Reeves Report and the idea of the ‘region’ 33 Howard Morphy 4. The Reeves Report and the idea of the ‘community’ 39 Peter Sutton 5. The nature of ‘permission’ 53 Nancy Williams 6. Legal issues in implementation of the Reeves Report 65 Ernst Willheim 7. Statehood, land rights and Aboriginal law 89 Garth Nettheim 8. The social, cultural and economic costs and benefits of land rights: an assessment of the Reeves analysis 99 John Taylor 9. The proposed restructure of the financial 109 framework of the Land Rights Act: a critique of Reeves Jon Altman 10. Local organisations and the purpose of money 123 Robert Levitus 11. Delays and uncertainties in the negotiations for mining 131 on Aboriginal land John Quiggin 12. Smaller land councils: value for money? 141 David Pollack 13. The Reeves Report’s assumptions on regionalism 155 and socioeconomic advancement David Martin 14. Municipalising land councils: land rights 167 and local governance Martin Mowbray 15. The Reeves Review and the prospects of 181 a Northern Territory ‘partnership’ Tim Rowse 16. Land rights at risk 187 Ian Viner Contributing authors 195 Index 198 Preface Building on Land Rights for the Next Generation: Report of the Review of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 was completed in August 1998, and became publicly available in September. Now commonly called the Reeves Review or the Reeves Report, after its author, John Reeves QC, it is the product of an expansive (and expensive) review of the federal Land Rights Act that began in October 1997. The main report is 617 pages and a second volume of appendices is 413 pages. It contains many controversial recommendations that, if implemented, would fundamentally change the nature and functioning of land rights legislation in the Northern Territory. There has been a strong and broadly negative reaction by indigenous stakeholders to the review’s public policy and constitutional recommendations. The controversial nature of the Reeves Review has been recognised by the Federal Government. In January 1999 the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs formally instructed the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs to undertake an inquiry into the Reeves Review. It is anticipated that the Standing Committee will complete its deliberations by late August 1999. The two-day conference, ‘Evaluating the Reeves Report: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives’, on which this monograph is closely based, was jointly convened by the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) at The Australian National University. The conference was held on 26 and 27 March 1999. The impetus for organising this conference came from two quite different directions. Grave concern was openly expressed at the annual Australian Anthropological Society confe- rence, held in Canberra from 1 to 3 October 1998, about the quality of the anthropological research undertaken by the Reeves Review and presented in the report. A number of anthropologists whose research had been cited by Reeves were also concerned that their research had been selectively quoted, misinterpreted and misunderstood. Consequently, at its annual general meeting on 2 October 1998 the society decided to develop a formal submission to government critiquing this research. This critique, which was prepared by Peter Sutton, has now been tendered as early evidence to the Standing Committee Inquiry (Submission No. 2, S3–S48, Submission volume 1). The impetus also came from public policy research more generally. CAEPR was involved in undertaking research for the Reeves Review on financial aspects of land rights legislation in the Northern Territory. It also undertook desk-based research for the Northern Land Council that formed a part of the council’s submission to the Reeves Review. A great deal of CAEPR’s published research on the socioeconomic status of indigenous people in the Northern Territory had been used by Reeves but, like some anthropologists, CAEPR academics felt that much of this had been selectively and inaccurately used. N v CAEPR had offered to convene a workshop for the Reeves Review in early 1998 to canvass academic perspectives on the Land Rights Act. This suggestion was initially embraced enthusiastically by both John Reeves and the two major land councils. But it did not proceed, primarily because of financial constraints. With the benefit of hindsight, such a workshop might have proved extremely cost-effective. As a university-based research centre focused on indigenous policy issues, CAEPR realised that the aftermath of the Reeves Review and the Standing Committee Inquiry into the Reeves Report would be a key component of its research agenda in 1999. A convergence of these two sets of interests resulted in the convening of a conference early in 1999. As organisers, we felt that there was a need for open and independent evaluation and debate of the Reeves Report from a diversity of disciplinary perspectives, not just anthropology. We also believed that, given the complexity of the Land Rights Act and the considerable size of the Reeves Report, a two-day conference would assist all participants to disassemble and more fully understand the interrelationships between the report’s numerous, and at times quite unexpected and controversial, recommendations for change. The conference also afforded an opportunity to gather together a critical mass of indigenous stakeholders, academics, professionals, bureaucrats, and staff of Aboriginal organisations to discuss and debate the Reeves Report. And
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