Last week, the Howard government finally confirmed its intention to withdraw the limited land rights achieved by Australia's indigenous people over the last few decades.
Of course, the announcement in parliament on October 8 was not worded so honestly. The Coalition's amendments to the 1993 Native Title Act would "make it more workable for the benefit of all people affected", Howard said. "We want to achieve a fair balance between the legitimate interests of government and industry and also the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people."
Under the changes, Aborigines will have only four (reduced from six) months to negotiate with mining companies on native title claims; they will be able to exercise their right to negotiate only once; and mining companies will be able to proceed with exploration and prospecting without having to negotiate with Aboriginal groups claiming native title on that land. All private infrastructure projects will also be exempt from the requirement to negotiate.
Another change would empower the minister for Aboriginal affairs to intervene in a native title claim after three months if a development project is deemed to be "of substantial economic benefit to Australia". The minister would also be given legal rights to scrutinise the financial performance of all Aboriginal organisations entitled to make native title claims.
Not surprisingly, the proposals were welcomed by the mining corporations, pastoralists and state governments, all of whom, unlike Aboriginal organisations, were closely consulted during the drafting.
With this announcement, the Howard government has launched its most serious assault yet on Aboriginal rights. This is the attack that the mining bosses have been preparing for for years. It is their bid to assert their unimpeded control over every centimetre of land that might make them a profit.
It's not as if the Native Title Act currently operates as a major impediment to the mining bosses' profits. It was not until October 9 — more than four years since the Mabo decision — that a native title claim was even recognised on the mainland.
The act was passed more as a means of dealing with the enormous pressure for land rights that had built up during the 1960s and '70s than as a guarantee of genuine ownership and control of traditional land by Aborigines. The proof requirements before a claim can be lodged are very strict, and the act does nothing for those Aborigines whose ancestors were dispossessed generations ago. Moreover, the Keating Labor government refused veto rights over new developments on native title land, giving instead only the right to negotiate at both the exploration and development stage. Even then, any Aboriginal objections to a development could be overridden by the relevant state minister.
But the corporate bosses want the lot. WA Premier Richard Court flagged the real intent of the Howard government's proposed amendments last May: "Excluding exploration from the right to negotiate will be welcomed but ... many companies will not spend large amounts on exploration if there is doubt about their ability to develop the resources that may be found". On behalf of the mining corporations, the government is laying the groundwork for getting rid of Aborigines' right to negotiate altogether.
Without the restoration of their land and adequate compensation for dispossession, genuine equality for Aboriginal people is not possible.
To deny Aborigines the right to veto and control development on their land is to deny land rights. The Howard government is revealing more clearly than ever that, whatever it mouths about equality and fairness "for all of us", it is a racist regime, deliberately setting out to enforce racial oppression in this country.