Dave Tollner (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs entitled The long road to statehood: report of the inquiry into the federal implications of statehood for the Northern Territory and sincerely hope it does progress statehood for the Northern Territory. As the report points out, it seems an anomaly that the Territory does not have the status of statehood. The Northern Territory is, after all, the historic national stage of the Aboriginal land rights movement, home to some of the key mineral resource regions in the country, a gateway to Asia and a World Heritage environment with a growing and diverse population. The NT faces a lot of state-like issues, but it will surely be a long and winding road to statehood, with no end in sight, unless the representational and legislative arrangements of statehood are dealt with comprehensively, ensuring that the Northern Territory has full and equal rights with the states on all matters.

I fully endorse the recommendation of the committee that the Commonwealth needs to take a greater role in assisting the progress of statehood and in resolving federal issues. These issues are many, and include: repatriation of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act; industrial relations; mining resources, particularly uranium royalties; environment and national parks, including marine protected areas; financial relations; representation; and, legislative arrangements.

Equally, I must castigate the Northern Territory Labor government for their lack of action on removing obstacles to statehood and any meaningful consultation with the federal government. They have not progressed the statehood issue since announcing a five-year timetable back in 2003. They have also done little to build a coalition of support for statehood; there are certainly no new approaches to statehood. While the level of bipartisan support for statehood is encouraging—and I congratulate the Minister for Statehood, Syd Stirling, and the shadow minister for statehood, Terry Mills, on their cooperation—its impact has been muted in the wider community. Future arrangements for the land rights act still require clarification from the Territory Labor government, a crucial issue if the way is to be cleared for statehood.

I have to express some disappointment, too, at the lack of enthusiasm by the Northern Territory public on the issue of statehood. In the words of the committee, Territorians ‘still have a long way to go before they come to a community decision on whether they want statehood and, if so, on what basis’. Views are diverse and divided. At the 1998 referendum, over 51.3 per cent of the Northern Territory’s citizens voted no to statehood. Non-Aboriginal groups supported the proposal, but an estimated 74 per cent of Aboriginals voted no to statehood, and they make up 30 per cent of the NT population. Until we get Aboriginal people onside, statehood is a dead duck.

As mentioned, statehood is an issue not just for the Territory to decide; it will require Commonwealth action to prepare the way before statehood can be imposed or voted on in the Northern Territory. Firstly, how is the Commonwealth to accommodate full representational equality? Anything less than a state entitlement of 12 senators and the minimum five MHRs is not equality. I do not think it is acceptable that, if the Territory is to be the seventh state of Australia, we should have any less representation in this place. Secondly, how will the Commonwealth resolve future land rights legislation? Until these two issues are resolved, statehood will not come to pass.

I will now deal briefly with the Aboriginal land rights act issue, because its removal from the statehood debate is essential, in my view, or else we will go nowhere. My view is that the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 should be repatriated to the Northern Territory as soon as possible, basically in its current provisions, with the Commonwealth installing some safety clauses to guarantee its provisions if it sees fit. The removal of this issue from the statehood debate altogether is essential, or else we will get nowhere. Will land rights be repatriated to the Territory or will that remain under Commonwealth administration? Every Territorian, in particular, Aboriginal Territorians, needs to know the answer to that question before they are asked again whether they should become a state.

Finally, I join with the chairman of the committee in thanking all the committee members for their support during this inquiry, and I thank all those people and organisations who gave evidence at our hearings in Canberra, Alice Springs and Darwin. This is a very important issue for the Northern Territory, indeed for all Australians, and those people who participated in the inquiry and seminars have done a great service to Australia. I thank them for their support.

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