The Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association has reiterated its support for the amendments to the NT Pastoral Land Act, introduced to Parliament by the NT Government last week.
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The NTCA rejects calls by the Northern Land Council to have the Bill withdrawn.
The Northern Land Council said the Bill would enable the grant of subleases on pastoral leases for non-pastoral purposes.
NLC CEO Joe Morrison said he was deeply concerned that the government had introduced the legislation without consulting the NLC, which represents native title holders in the Top End.
“The pastoral rangelands of the Northern Territory are not owned by the pastoral industry,” Mr Morrison said.
“They are also the traditional country of the Aboriginal native title holders and the Native Title Act recognises that it is shared country in Australian law.
“If these amendments are passed, they will entrench the Howard Government’s 10-Point Plan changes to the Native Title Act in 1998. These changes diminish Indigenous rights and preclude native title holders from being involved in economic developments on their traditional lands.
“It’s outrageous that there has been absolutely no discussion with the NLC or native title holders about these proposed changes.
“The NT Government needs to include Aboriginal people in the future development of the pastoral estate as is their right as native title holders.
At the same time as congratulating Minister for Environment and Natural Resources Lauren Moss for introducing the amendments, NTCA President Tom Stockwell unequivocally rejected calls by Northern Land Council CEO Joe Morrison to withdraw the Bill.
“The changes announced this week by the NT Government are largely administrative and simply improve the effectiveness of the existing legislation,” he said.
“The purpose of the amendments is to provide certainty to pastoral enterprises around pastoral rent calculation, and provide investors with the security of tenure required to invest in diversification of the pastoral estate, which will drive further economic development and create jobs in regional and remote area,” Mr Stockwell said.
He said Mr Morrison sought to justify his calls to have the Bill withdrawn by making several exaggerated claims that were factually incorrect.
“The first, where he stated that the Non-Pastoral Use permits were introduced by the previous NT Government, and do not require traditional owners to be notified, shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the Act.
“Pastoralists have been able to diversify their businesses under the Pastoral Land Act since it was first created in 1992 through Non-Pastoral Use Permits (NPU). These permits were simply refined in 2014 and include the requirement for Native Title holders to be notified when an application is submitted. Morrison’s claims that Native Title holders are not notified are false.
“If anything, engagement with Native Title holders has been strengthened by the recent amendments, and the changes announced on Wednesday add another layer of transparency to the Act.”
Mr Stockwell said Mr Morrison was quoted as referring to pastoral leases as “grazing licences”, inferring that pastoralists do not have formal ownership of their land.
The NTCA rejects Morrison’s reference to Pastoral Leases as an informal arrangement, with the majority of the pastoral estate in the NT being held under the tenure of Perpetual Pastoral Lease, a formal agreement between the lessee and the Crown, and a significant land tenure type for the growth of the Australian agriculture industry, especially in the NT.
Mr Stockwell said the amendments will drive further growth and development in the regional and remote communities of the Northern Territory.