Indigenous self-determination in Australia Histories and Historiography Aboriginal History Incorporated Aboriginal History Inc. is a part of the Australian Centre for Indigenous History, Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University, and gratefully acknowledges the support of the School of History and the National Centre for Indigenous Studies, The Australian National University. Aboriginal History Inc. is administered by an Editorial Board which is responsible for all unsigned material. Views and opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily shared by Board members. Contacting Aboriginal History All correspondence should be addressed to the Editors, Aboriginal History Inc., ACIH, School of History, RSSS, 9 Fellows Road (Coombs Building), The Australian National University, Acton, ACT, 2601, or [email protected]. WARNING: Readers are notified that this publication may contain names or images of deceased persons. Indigenous self-determination in Australia Histories and Historiography Edited by Laura Rademaker and Tim Rowse Published by ANU Press and Aboriginal History Inc. The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] Available to download for free at press.anu.edu.au ISBN (print): 9781760463779 ISBN (online): 9781760463786 WorldCat (print): 1191862788 WorldCat (online): 1191862595 DOI: 10.22459/ISA.2020 This title is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). The full licence terms are available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode Cover design and layout by ANU Press Cover artwork: ‘Lightning’ (2017), by Noŋgirrŋa Marawili, Art Gallery of New South Wales This edition © 2020 ANU Press and Aboriginal History Inc. CONTENTS Tables and maps . vii Acronyms . ix Prefatory note . .. xiii How shall we write the history of self‑determination in Australia? . 1 Laura Rademaker and Tim Rowse Part One: Self‑determination as a project of colonial authority 1 . Self‑determination in action: How John Hunter and Aboriginal people in Arnhem Land anticipated official policy in the late 1960s and early 1970s . 39 Chris Haynes 2 . An emerging Protestant doctrine of self‑determination in the Northern Territory . 59 Laura Rademaker 3 . The Aboriginal pastoral enterprise in self‑determination policy . 81 Charlie Ward 4 . Unmet potential: The Commonwealth Indigenous managed capital funds and self‑determination . 101 M . C . Dillon 5 . After reserves and missions: Discrete Indigenous communities in the self‑determination era . 119 Will Sanders 6 . ‘Taxpayers’ money’? ATSIC and the Indigenous Sector . 143 Katherine Curchin and Tim Rowse Part Two: Self‑determination as an Indigenous project 7 . Adult literacy, land rights and self‑determination . 167 Bob Boughton 8 . Taking control: Aboriginal organisations and self‑determination in Redfern in the 1970s . 189 Johanna Perheentupa 9 . Beyond land: Indigenous health and self‑determination in an age of urbanisation . 209 Maria John 10 . Self‑determination’s land right: Destined to disappoint? . .. 227 Jon Altman 11 . ‘Essentially sea‑going people’: How Torres Strait Islanders shaped Australia’s border . 247 Tim Rowse Part Three: Self‑determination as principle of international law and concept in political theory 12 . Self‑determination under international law and some possibilities for Australia’s Indigenous peoples . 269 Asmi Wood 13 . Self‑determination with respect to language rights . 293 Jane Simpson 14 . Self‑determination through administrative representation: Insights from theory, practice and history . 315 Elizabeth Ganter 15 . Who is the self in Indigenous self‑determination? . 335 Sana Nakata Contributors . 355 TABLES AND MAPS Table 3.1: Northern Territory Aboriginal communities with Aboriginal Cattle Enterprises (ACEs) on Aboriginal freehold or leasehold land with date of title (granted or purchased) prior to 1993. 86 Table 3.2: DAA ‘Report on Application for Funds’, 1975, Aboriginal cattle project funding assessment, Muramulla Cattle Company ....................................88 Map 5.1: Geographic distribution of 1,187 discrete Indigenous communities by population size, 2006 ...................121 Table 5.1: Numbers and populations of discrete Indigenous communities, 1992–2006 ............................122 Table 5.2: Numbers of discrete Indigenous communities reporting resident populations <50, 50–199 and 200+ in four jurisdictions, ATSIC and ABS Survey, 1999 .........122 Map 5.2: Local government areas by percentage Indigenous residents, 2016 Census. 137 Table 6.1: Acquittal lapses and corrective actions, ORAC, 1994–95 to 1999–2000. .150 Table 7.1: NSW Aboriginal Land Council membership and voting ........................................180 Map 11.1: The Australia–Papua New Guinea boundary ..........248 vii ACRONYMS AACM Australian Agricultural Consultancy Management Company AAES Australian Army Education Service ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ACA Act Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976 ACCHO Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation ACE Aboriginal Cattle Enterprise ACG Aboriginal Consultative Group ADC Aboriginal Development Commission AEDP Aboriginal Employment Development Policy AHC Aboriginal Housing Company ALCT Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania ALFC Aboriginal Land Fund Commission ALP Australian Labor Party ALRA Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 ALS Aboriginal Legal Service ALT Aboriginal Lands Trust AMS Aboriginal Medical Service AnTEP Anangu Teacher Education Program ANU The Australian National University APY Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjara ARR Ayers Rock Resort ASIC Australian Securities and Investments Commission ASOPA Australian School of Pacific Administration ix INDIGENOUS SELF-determinatiON IN AUSTRALIA ATSIC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission ATSIS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services BIITE Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education BTEC Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign CAA Council for Aboriginal Affairs CAAC Central Australian Aboriginal Congress CATSI Act Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 CDC Commercial Development Corporation CDEP Community Development Employment Projects CLP Country Liberal Party CMS Church Missionary Society DAA Department of Aboriginal Affairs ECOSOC Economic and Social Council FCAA Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement FIAEP Federation of Independent Aboriginal Education Providers HREOC Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission IAD Institute for Aboriginal Development IBA Indigenous Business Australia ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ICJ International Court of Justice ILC Indigenous Land Corporation LALC Local Aboriginal Land Councils LF Land Fund LFLF Literacy for Life Foundation ML Mitchell Library MOM Methodist Overseas Mission MPA Maningrida Progress Association NAA National Archives of Australia NAC National Aboriginal Conference NACC National Aboriginal Consultative Committee x ACRONYMS NIC National Indigenous Council NLA National Library of Australia NSW New South Wales NSWALC New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council NTA Native Title Act 1993 NTA Northern Territory Administration NTAC Northern Territory Aboriginal Council NTC National Tribal Council NTRS Northern Territory Records Series OAA Office of Aboriginal Affairs OEA Office of Evaluation and Audit ORAC Office of the Registrar of Aboriginal Corporations ORIC Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations PCIJ Permanent Court of International Justice RATE Remote Area Teacher Education RCAGA Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration RCIADIC Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody RDA Racial Discrimination Act 1975 REIT Real Estate Investment Trust RLF Regional Land Fund SAE Standard Australian English SAL School of Australian Linguistics SIL Summer Institute of Linguistics UAM United Aborigines Mission UN United Nations UNDRIP United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNSW University of New South Wales UTS University of Technology Sydney xi INDIGENOUS SELF-determinatiON IN AUSTRALIA VET Vocational education and training WBACC Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council WGIP Working Group on Indigenous Populations xii PREFATORY NOTE This book arose out of a workshop funded by the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia in 2018 at The Australian National University. At that workshop, we arrived at four implications of our findings: 1. That greater public policy attention and funding be directed towards community-controlled adult education and to supporting campaigns and programs aimed at raising adult literacy levels among Indigenous people on a mass scale. Adult literacy is the foundation both for financial literacy and sound governance for Aboriginal incorporations; a rise in literacy is essential to political capacity building and to advocacy of Indigenous interests. 2. That the role of Indigenous interests within governments be expanded. This includes revisiting the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration that in 1974–76 advocated both greater recruitment of Indigenous public servants and building the capability of Indigenous organisations. 3. That governments actively consider ways to build greater Indigenous control and influence,