REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON NATIVE TITLE RIGHTS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA Presented by the Hon Tom Stephens MLC (Chairman) Report SELECT COMMITTEE ON NATIVE TITLE RIGHTS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA Date first appointed: 17 September 1997 Terms of Reference: (1) A Select Committee of five members is hereby appointed. Three members of the committee shall be appointed from among those members supporting the Government. (2) The mover be the Chairperson of the Committee. (3) The Committee be appointed to inquire into and report on — (a) the Federal Government’s proposed 10 Point Plan on native title rights and interests, and its impact and effect on land management in Western Australia; (b) the efficacy of current processes by which conflicts or disputes over access or use of land are resolved or determined; (c) alternative and improved methods by which these conflicts or disputes can be resolved, with particular reference to the relevance of the regional and local agreement model as a method for the resolution of conflict; and (d) the role that the Western Australian Government should play in resolution of conflict between parties over disputes in relation to access or use of land. (4) The Committee have the power to send for persons, papers and records and to move from place to place. (5) The Committee report to the House not later than November 27, 1997, and if the House do then stand adjourned the Committee do deliver its report to the President who shall cause the same to be printed by authority of this order. (6) Subject to the right of the Committee to hear evidence in private session where the nature of the evidence or the identity of the witness renders it desirable, the proceedings of the Committee during the hearing of evidence are open to accredited news media representatives and the public. (Added 23 October 1997) Members at the time of this inquiry: Hon Tom Stephens MLC (Chairman) Hon Murray Criddle MLC1 Hon Barry House MLC Hon Murray Nixon MLC Hon Giz Watson MLC Staff at the time of this inquiry: Mr Marcus Priest, Advisory/Research Officer Mr David Lloyd, Committee Clerk (November 1997 - February 1998) Mr Jason Agar, Committee Clerk (September 1997 - August 1998) Ms Kelly Campbell, Committee Clerk (from October 1998) The Committee expresses its gratitude to all staff involved in the production of the report, with particular reference to the staff of Hansard. Address: Parliament House, Perth WA 6000, Telephone (08) 9222 7222 ISBN 0 7309 8910 0 1 See Appendix 16. Table of Contents GLOSSARY............................................................ i CHRONOLOGY .........................................................ii INTRODUCTION ........................................................1 CHAPTER 1 - HISTORY OF NATIVE TITLE.................................7 1 A brief history of native title in Australia. ..............................7 2 The Mabo decision...............................................11 3 The Wik decision.................................................13 CHAPTER 2 - CONTENT OF NATIVE TITLE...............................15 1 Introduction .....................................................15 2 Docking of two systems of law......................................15 3 At its fullest native title is equivalent to fee simple ......................15 4 Native title is a communal right .....................................16 5 Native title is not the same as land rights ..............................17 6 The Aboriginal relationship to land ..................................17 7 Native title is not the same as Aboriginal sovereignty ....................18 8 “Native title is an amorphous mass” ..................................19 9 Native title as a bundle of rights .....................................20 10 The Federal Government approach...................................20 11 Submissions against codification ....................................21 12 The Canadian approach............................................23 13 Frozen rights?...................................................24 14 Does common law native title include mineral rights? ....................26 15 Committee discussion .............................................28 Conclusions and recommendations..........................................29 CHAPTER 3 - EXTINGUISHMENT OF NATIVE TITLE .......................31 1 Introduction .....................................................31 2 What the High Court said..........................................31 3 Validation of ‘intermediate period acts’ in Western Australia..............32 4 Suppression or extinguishment? .....................................34 5 Confirmation of past extinguishment of native title by ‘previous exclusive possession acts’ .................................................35 6 Compensation for extinguishment ...................................37 7 Committee discussion .............................................39 Conclusions and recommendations..........................................40 CHAPTER 4 - PHYSICAL CONNECTION AND NATIVE TITLE ................41 1 Introduction .....................................................41 2 Physical connection is required......................................42 3 Physical connection is not required ..................................43 4 What level of physical connection is required? .........................44 5 Committee discussion .............................................45 Conclusions and recommendations..........................................45 CHAPTER 5 - THE NATIONAL NATIVE TITLE TRIBUNAL .................. 47 1 Introduction .................................................... 47 2 The NNTT is not a court.......................................... 47 3 Recognition of native title ......................................... 48 4 The Future Act Regime........................................... 49 5 Complaints about the Tribunal ..................................... 50 6 Tribunal’s resources .............................................. 52 7 Tribunal’s workload .............................................. 53 8 Allegations of bias............................................... 53 9 The proposal to establish a State Native Title Commission ............... 54 10 Committee discussion ............................................ 60 Conclusions and recommendations......................................... 62 CHAPTER 6 - THE RIGHT TO NEGOTIATE ............................... 63 Chapter overview....................................................... 63 1 Introduction .................................................... 64 2 Mining and the right to negotiate ................................... 64 3 What the unamended Native Title Act said ............................ 64 4 Federal Government amendments................................... 65 5 Stakeholders positions on the right to negotiate ........................ 66 6 How does the right to negotiate compare with other property rights?........ 70 7 How the right to negotiate compares with an injunction ................. 72 8 The expedited procedure.......................................... 74 9 Right to negotiate on pastoral leases................................. 76 10 Committee discussion ............................................ 79 11 Conclusions and recommendations.................................. 79 CHAPTER 7 - ACCEPTANCE AND REGISTRATION ........................ 81 1 Introduction .................................................... 81 2 Court interpretation of the acceptance and registration tests .............. 82 3 Amendments to the acceptance and registration test ..................... 83 4 Overlapping claims .............................................. 86 5 The creation of “Native Title Working Groups” ........................ 94 6 Committee discussion ............................................ 95 Conclusions and recommendations......................................... 98 CHAPTER 8 - MINING AND NATIVE TITLE ............................... 99 1 Statistical analysis............................................... 99 2 Delays in processing of applications................................ 100 3 New mines being delayed by native title? ............................ 103 4 Trend to overseas and brownfield exploration ........................ 109 5 Amendments to the NTA ......................................... 111 6 Compensation for mining ........................................ 115 7 Economic benefits of Aboriginal involvement in mining ................ 118 8 Committee discussion ........................................... 121 Conclusions and recommendations........................................ 124 CHAPTER 9 - PASTORAL LEASES & NATIVE TITLE...................... 127 Chapter overview...................................................... 127 1 Background ....................................................128 2 Pastoral leases and native title .....................................130 3 The amendments................................................134 4 Committee discussion ............................................142 Conclusions and recommendations.........................................144 CHAPTER 10 - ROLE OF THE STATE IN NATIVE TITLE MATTERS ..........145 Chapter overview ......................................................145 1 Background ....................................................145 2 What the NTA said ..............................................146 3 What is good faith negotiation? ....................................147 4 What the amended NTA says.......................................148