Arabic version: مجالس الأراضي في نيو ساوث ويلز تعارض التغييرات المقترحة على قانون حقوق الأراضي
Aboriginal land councils across New South Wales (NSW) have convened an emergency meeting to oppose a proposed amendment to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (ALRA) that they claim would undermine their land rights. The proposed changes would prevent unused Crown land that is under lease from being claimable by Aboriginal land councils, a move that many see as detrimental to their efforts to reclaim ancestral lands. According to ABC News, the NSW Aboriginal Land Council is urging the state government to reconsider these changes.
Denise Hampton, who works with the Wangaaypuwan Local Aboriginal Land Council, expressed concern that the law change could create significant barriers to securing land for projects like the ranger program she has developed in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Currently, the law allows councils to claim unused or unoccupied Crown land, but the proposed amendments would redefine what constitutes ‘unused’ land, effectively limiting access to many sites.
Lands and Property Minister Steve Kamper defended the proposed changes, claiming that the land claims system is ‘broken’ and that the amendments aim to address technical errors that have allowed certain sites to be claimed despite being community assets. However, local land council leaders argue that the government did not consult them before proposing the legislation, raising concerns about the lack of engagement with Aboriginal communities.
The Law Society of NSW has criticized the proposed changes, stating they could fundamentally alter the long-standing land rights laws designed to compensate Aboriginal people for historic dispossession. Land council leaders fear that these changes could block up to 4,000 land claims currently in progress, further complicating an already challenging landscape for Aboriginal land rights in the state. The situation has prompted widespread protests and calls for the government to withdraw the proposed legislation, which many see as an attack on the rights and future of Aboriginal communities in NSW.
