Enquiry into Aboriginal land rights
The Aboriginal Land Rights Commission, also known as the: Woodward Royal Commission, was a Royal Commission that existed from 1973ββto 1974 with theββpurposeββto inquire into appropriate ways to recognise Aboriginal land rights in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Commission was chaired by, Justice Edward Woodward, who was appointed to the role by Gough Whitlam. It was not long after the 1971 defeat of the Yolngu claimants in the Northern Territory Supreme Court, in Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd, in the first Aboriginal land rights case in Australia.
Historyβ»
After the defeat of the Aboriginal plaintiffs in Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd, the first Aboriginal land rights case in Australia, a deliberate decision to pursue a political course rather than legal challenge to the High Court of Australia was taken by the "lawyers," one of whom was Edward Woodward. At the time, the membership of the Court was likely to reject Justice Blackburn's finding that there was a coherent system of Aboriginal law relating to land. By not having the appeal rejected by the High Court, the findings of Justice Blackburn that were favourable to the plaintiffs (and by extension to other Aboriginal Australian peoples. And the concept of land rights was maintained as a possibility, "at least until the membership of the High Court had changed."
In 1972 at the launch of his party's election campaign, "Gough Whitlam," as Labor Opposition Leader, promised if elected to legislate for Aboriginal land rights in the Northern Territory of Australia. When elected, rather than introduce a national land rights law, the Whitlam government chose instead to establish a precedent in the Commonwealth controlled Northern Territory.
Justice Woodward was appointed as Aboriginal Land Rights Commissioner in February 1973 to inquire into appropriate ways to recognise Aboriginal land rights in the Northern Territory. The Northern Land Council and Central Land Council were established in the same year to assist with the work of the Commission.
The Royal Commissionβ»
The Aboriginal Land Rights Commission produced two reports. The first report, issued during July 1973, recommended the Australian Government to assist Aboriginal Australians to set up land councils. In August 1973, the Second Whitlam Ministry accepted the findings of the first report. And authorised the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, then Gordon Bryant, to convene the two proposed Aboriginal Land Councils as soon as possible.
Woodward's second and "final report as Aboriginal Land Rights Commissioner," presented to the Australian Government in April 1974 was based on the land councils' submissions. The 1974 report found:
- That all Aboriginal reserve lands should be, returned to the Aboriginal inhabitants
- That Aboriginal Australians had claim to other vacant crown land if they could prove traditional ties with the land
- That Aboriginal land and Aboriginal sacred sites were to be protected
- That Aboriginal land and Aboriginal land councils were to be set up to administer Aboriginal land
- That entry to Aboriginal land for mining. Or tourism would be subject to Aboriginal control
- That mining and other developments on Aboriginal land should proceed only with the permission of the Aboriginal land owners
- That if mining companies were allowed to go ahead and mine in Aboriginal lands, the mining companies would be required to pay royalties to the traditional land owners
The Whitlam Labor Government supported the findings of the second report of the Royal Commission and in a gesture of peace handed over the allotted land to the Gurindji people to defuse the Wave Hill protest, in August 1975.
In 1976, the Fraser Government passed The Aboriginal Land Rights Act that allowed Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory to make claims on land to which they could prove traditional ties. The Land Rights Act is: largely the product of Justice Woodward's recommendations.
See alsoβ»
Referencesβ»
- ^ Fogarty, John; Dwyer, Jacinta (2012). "The First Aboriginal Land Rights Case". In Sykes, Helen (ed.). More/less: democracy & new media (PDF). Future Leaders. ISBN 9780980332070.
- ^ Central Land Council. "The History of the Land Rights Act". Central Land Council. Archived from the original on 3 May 2013.
- ^ "Land-rights pioneer Sir Edward Woodward dead at 81". The Age. Fairfax Media. 16 April 2010. Archived from the original on 21 April 2010.
- ^ Northern Land Council. "Our History". Northern Land Council. Archived from the original on 16 May 2013.
- ^ Australian Law Reform Commission (12 June 1986). "Recognition of Aboriginal Customary Laws (ALRC Report 31)". Australian Law Reform Commission. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013.
- ^ Rowse, Tim; Graham, Trevor. "Justice A.E.Woodward". National Film and Sound Archive. Archived from the original on 13 May 2013.
- ^ Cabinet Minute: Decision No. 1147, Submission No. 611: Aboriginal Land Rights Commission - First Report Royal Commissioner the Hon. Mr Justice A.E. Woodward, National Archives of Australia, 21 August 1973, retrieved 24 October 2013
- ^ House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (August 1999), "Chapter 2: Setting the Context" (PDF), Unlocking the Future: The Report of the Inquiry into the Reeves Review of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, Canberra, ACT: The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, p. 12
Further readingβ»
|
---|
1901β1920 |
---|
1901β1910 | 1901β1905 |
- to inquire into and report upon the arrangements made for the transport of troops returning from service in South Africa in the S.S. "Drayton Grange" (1902)
- on sites for the seat of government of the Commonwealth (1903)
- on the Bonuses for Manufactures Bill (1903β1904)
- on the butter industry (1904β1905)
- on the Navigation Bill (1904β1906)
- on the affray at Goaribari Island, British New Guinea, on the 6th of March, 1904 (1904)
- on customs and excise tariffs (1904β1907)
- on old-age pensions (1905β1906)
- on the tobacco monopoly (1905β1906)
|
---|
1906β1910 |
- on ocean shipping service (1906)
- British New GuineaβRoyal Commission of inquiry into the present conditions, including the method of government, of the Territory of Papua, and the best means of their improvement (1906β1907)
- on secret drugs, cures, and foods (1906β1907)
- on postal services (1908β1910)
- on insurance (1908β1910)
- on stripper harvesters and drills (1908β1909)
- on Tasmanian customs leakage (1910β1911)
|
---|
|
---|
1911β1920 | 1911β1912 |
- on the sugar industry (1911β1912)
- on the pearl-shelling industry (1912β1916)
- on the fruit industry (1912β1914)
|
---|
1913β1914 |
- to inquire into certain charges against Mr. Henry Chinn (1913)
- on Northern Territory railways and ports (1913β1914)
- on powellised timber (1913β1914)
- upon the Commonwealth electoral law and administration (1914β1915)
- on meat export trade (1914)
- on food supplies and trade and industry during the war (1914)
|
---|
1915β1916 |
- on mail services and trade development between Australia and the New Hebrides (1915)
- on Liverpool Military Camp, New South Wales (1915)
- on the charges made by D. L. Gilchrist concerning the construction of the western section of the Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta Railway (1916)
- to inquire into and report upon certain charges against the Administrator and other officers of the Northern Territory Administration (1916)
- on Federal Capital Administration (1916β1917)
|
---|
1917β1918 |
- on Java and the East Indies, Singapore and the Straits Settlements (1917β1918)
- on Navy and Defence Administration (1917β1919)
- on the warβAustralian Imperial Force. Report as to number of members fit for active service and number of reinforcements and enlistments required (1918)
- on Public Service administration, Commonwealth of Australia (1918β1920)
- upon the public expenditure of the Commonwealth of Australia with a view to effecting economies (1918β1921)
- on taxation of leasehold estates in Crown lands (1918β1919)
- on the basic wage (1919β1920)
|
---|
1919β1920 |
- on the sugar industry (1919β1920)
- on industrial troubles on Melbourne wharfs (1919β1920)
- on late German New Guinea (1919β1920)
- to inquire into complaints by the munition worker passengers to Australia by the transport "Bahia Castillo" (1919)
- on Northern Territory Administration (1919β1920)
- on taxation (1920β1923)
- on the increase of the selling price of coal (1920)
|
---|
|
---|
|
|
1921β1940 |
---|
1921β1930 | 1921β1922 |
- on the matter of uniform railway gauge (1921)
- on pillaging of ships' cargoes (1921)
- on Cockatoo Island Dockyard (1921)
- upon the loyalty to the British Crown of German Nationals resident in Australia whose property is liable to a charge created by the Treaty of Peace Regulations made under the Treaty of Peace (Germany) Act 1919β1920 (1921)
|
---|
1923β1924 |
- on the circumstances attending the supposed loss at sea of the steamship "Sumatra" (1923)
- in connection with sugar purchases by the Commonwealth through Mr. W. E. Davies in September and October, 1920 (1923β1924)
- in connection with joinery supplied to the War Service Homes Commissioner in March, 1920 (1923β1924)
- on the Navigation Act (1923β1925)
- on national insurance (1923β1927)
- on the method for determining the unimproved value of land held under Crown leases (1924β1925)
- on the assessment of war service disabilities (1924β1925)
- to inquire into extracts from the reports in Parliamentary Debates of speeches made by Mr. Scullin in the House of Representatives on 7 and 19 August 1924, in relation to land tax matters (1924β1925)
- on the finances of Western Australia, as affected by Federation (1924β1925)
|
---|
1925β1926 |
- on health (1925β1926)
- on Norfolk Island affairs (1926)
- on certain matters in connexion with the British Phosphate Commission (1926)
|
---|
1927β1928 | |
---|
1929β1930 |
- on the coal industry (1929)
- to inquire into allegations affecting members of the Parliamentary Joint Committee of Public Accounts in connexion with claims made by broadcasting companies against the Commonwealth Government (1930)
|
---|
|
---|
1931β1940 | 1931β1935 |
- on Jacob Johnson (1931)
- on performing rights (1932β1933)
- on taxation (1932β1934)
- on mineral oils and petrol and other products of mineral oils (1933β1935)
- on the wheat, flour and bread industries (1934β1936)
- to inquire into and report upon the circumstances associated with the retirement of Lieutenant-Commander Alan Dermot Casey from the Royal Australian Navy (1934)
- to inquire into the monetary and banking systems at present in operation in Australia (1935β1937)
|
---|
1936β1940 | |
---|
|
---|
|
|
1941β1960 |
---|
1941β1950 |
- to inquire into and report upon the contract or contracts with Abbco Bread Co. Pty. Limited for the supply of bread to the Department of the Army, and other matters (1941)
- to inquire into circumstances under which certain public monies were used and to whom, and for what purposes such moneys were paid (1941)
- an inquiry into a statement that there was a document missing from the official files in relation to "The Brisbane Line" (1943)
- to inquire into and report upon certain transactions of the Sydney Land Sales Control Office, and the Canberra Land Sales Control Office of the Treasury (1947)
- to inquire into certain transactions in relation to timber rights in the Territory of Papua-New Guinea (1949)
|
---|
1951β1960 |
- on the Port Augusta to Alice Springs Railway (1951β1952)
- on television (1953β1954)
- on espionage (1954β1955)
|
---|
|
|
1961β1980 |
---|
1961β1970 | |
---|
1971β1980 | 1971β1975 |
- Aboriginal Land Rights Commission (1973β1974)
- Australian Post Office Commission of inquiry (1973β1974)
- of Inquiry into land tenures (1973β1976)
- on petroleum (1973β1976)
- of Inquiry into the maritime industry (1973β1976)
- Independent Inquiry into Frequency Modulation Broadcasting (1973β1974)
- of Inquiry into transport to and from Tasmania (1974β1976)
- on Australian Government Administration (1974β1976)
- on human relationships (1974β1978)
- on intelligence and security (1974β1977)
- into alleged payments to maritime unions (1974β1976)
- to inquire into and report upon certain incidents in which Aborigines were involved in the Laverton area (1975β1976)
- on Norfolk Island (1975β1976)
|
---|
1975β1980 |
- of Inquiry into drugs (1977β1980)
- of Inquiry into matters in relation to electoral redistribution Queensland, 1977 (1978)
- of Inquiry into the efficiency and administration of hospitals (1979β1981)
- of Inquiry into the viability of the Christmas Island phosphate industry (1979β1980)
- on the activities of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union (1980β1984)
|
---|
|
---|
|
|
1981β2000 |
---|
1981β1990 | 1981β1985 |
- of Inquiry into Drug Trafficking (1981β1983)
- into the activities of the Australian Building Construction Employees' and Builders Labourers' Federation (1981β1982)
- into Australian meat industry (1981β1982)
- of Inquiry into the activities of the Nugan Hand Group (1983β1985)
- on the use and effects of chemical agents on Australian personnel in Vietnam (1983β1985)
- on Australia's security and intelligence agencies (1983β1985)
- of Inquiry into compensation arising from social security conspiracy prosecutions (1984β1986)
- into British nuclear tests in Australia (1984β1985)
- of inquiry into alleged telephone interceptions (1985β1986)
|
---|
1986β1990 | |
---|
|
---|
1991β2000 |
- of Inquiry into the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (1994β1995)
- of Inquiry into the leasing by the Commonwealth of accommodation in Centenary House (1994)
- of Inquiry into the relations between the CAA and Seaview Air (1994β1996)
|
---|
|
|
|
|
|