By Kaylene Allan
After 200 years, in July the Tasmanian parliament had the opportunity to begin the process of reconciliation with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community by legislating for the return of land. The Legislative Council (the upper house), however, chose to reject the state government's Aboriginal Lands Bill on the basis of personal prejudice and a lack of understanding of fundamental social reform issues.
The Legislative Council, comprising 19 councillors, is notorious for its unrepresentative nature. All its members are Anglo-Saxon men, almost exclusively middle-aged to elderly. The members are elected for six-year terms on an electorate gerrymander that gives some Tasmanians four times the vote of others. The council never goes to a full election and has the ability to block supply and thereby bring down an elected government without going to an election itself. Amongst other bills recently opposed by the upper house are homosexual law reform, natural death and gun law reform.
While the Aboriginal Lands Bill falls short of the Aboriginal community's expectations, the bill provided for the transfer of 20 sites of cultural, spiritual and historic significance to the Tasmanian Aboriginal Land Council to administer on behalf of the Aboriginal community. This land amounts to approximately 53,000 hectares, most of it on the Bass Strait islands. The areas that are the main focus of Aboriginal concern cover less than 1% of the land area of Tasmania.
Since the Royal Commission on Land Rights in the Northern Territory headed by Justice Woodward presented its report in 1975, land rights in one form or another have been enacted in every state and territory except Tasmania. This latest action by the Legislative Council has exposed again just how out of touch the Legislative Council is keeping Tasmania in relation to this fundamental justice issue.
Solidarity for Land Rights has been working over the last 18 months in support of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community's quest for land rights. We will be joining other community groups in a campaign against the upper house. We urgently need to hear voices of protest from groups on the mainland to assist us in our campaign.
Please send a notice of protest (asking it to be tabled in the Legislative Council) to: Mr George Shaw, President of the Legislative Council, Parliament House, Hobart 7000, and/or to the Mercury newspaper, 93 Macquarie Street, Hobart 7000.
We also ask you to forward copies of your letters to: Solidarity for Land Rights, 102 Bathurst Street, Hobart 7000.