Leaving aside for the moment candidate Jeremy Challacombe’s rather odd expectation that members of the Yaegl community might need to sit cross-legged in the sand to discuss the future of Dirrungun at the mouth of the Clarence River, there was an even bigger surprise at the Yamba Meet the Candidates Meeting held on 3 September 2012.
Another candidate, Paul Parkinson, appeared to be labouring under the strong misapprehension that Australia’s court systems are clogged up with indigenous land claims which are primarily financial compensation claims.
According to Mr. Parkinson, native title claims post-Mabo have degenerated into something other than a desire to be recognised as traditional custodians of the land.
A view which somewhat surprised and confused this listener, so I went looking for answers.
All was not as this candidate apparently believes.
Compensation applications are made by Indigenous Australians seeking compensation for loss or impairment of native title according to the National Native Title Tribunal.
In January 2010 there seems to have been only three compensation applications listed across the entire country.
There are currently no notices of compensation applications for New South Wales. Nor are there any in the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia or Victoria. There is one listed in relation to a nature reserve in West Australia.
That is it – one lonely compensation claim notification on the books right now. Hardly an argument for unresolved claims piling up in the court system.
According to Justice Berna Collier as of 30 April 2011 the Federal Court had 471 native title claims before it nationwide, with only 17 in the ACT/NSW. The majority of these are not new claims. Again, hardly a number to bring the Bench to its knees.
Interestingly, native title claims usually only come before the Federal Court for formal determination if such claims are opposed – for example by government or mining corporations.
On any given day one is more likely to find the Federal Court's daily list filled with immigration, taxation or commercial litigation rather than native title matters.
On any given day one is more likely to find the Federal Court's daily list filled with immigration, taxation or commercial litigation rather than native title matters.
What still puzzles me is why Paul Parkinson thought it appropriate to make that inaccurate statement in the first place.
A map of native title claims in New South Wales can be found here.
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