Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the amendments be agreed to.

The Native Title Amendment (Indigenous Land Use Agreements) Bill 2017 is a carefully targeted reform to resolve the uncertainty created by the McGlade decision for existing and future Indigenous land use agreements across Australia. The bill passed the Senate today, incorporating two sets of government amendments. The first of these was a response to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee's inquiry into the bill. The government accepted the recommendations of the committee to remove the measures from the bill that were not required to address the uncertainty created by the McGlade decision, and introduced government amendments to achieve this. Those amendments were agreed to by the Senate today.

The second set of government amendments was introduced at the request of the Cape York Land Council, which brought to the attention of the government a number of ILUAs in Cape York that did not fall within the ambit of the validation provisions of the act. The Cape York Land Council were anxious to ensure that the benefits provided to native title holders in Cape York under these agreements were valid, and the government amendments agreed to in the Senate today effects the protection of these agreements.

The bill in its amended form will ensure that the ILUA system is and remains a key mechanism for Indigenous Australians to enjoy social and economic benefits associated with their native title rights. While the government is pleased to be able to deliver this important reform and deliver for native title holders, it is unfortunate that this did not happen much earlier. Labor repeatedly stood ready to support the bill on 11 May, yet in the Senate they voted against the motion to sit just one extra day to ensure that the vital certainty provided by this bill could be delivered in a timely way. It was most unfortunate, given the circumstances, that this bill is absolutely urgent. It is urgent that it provides the certainty that is required to all the stakeholders within this debate. I hope that the House finally see sense and passes these amendments quickly.

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