Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was going to ask a fairly similar question in relation to native title. I have a large Indigenous community in my electorate, in Ipswich and the Somerset region. In fact I have an Indigenous school, Hymba Yumba, a new prep to year 12 school. I was down there fairly recently talking about how it could develop. I was also visiting the USQ Indigenous Connections 2012 event for high school kids which took place in Indigenous communities across the whole of the western corridor, through Ipswich and the Somerset region and out towards Toowoomba. That was a good way for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to get pathways to undergraduate degrees. It was great talking to the young people there and seeing what their future goals and aspirations were.

Recently, on 2 March 2012, I addressed the Indigenous Lawyers Association of Queensland on where the government was at and how they could assist by mentoring young Indigenous people across Queensland. I know the president of that association, Josh Creamer. There was a profile of him in the Courier-Mail and he talked about the tabling of the Doing time report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, which I chair. He works in native title and Josh and I have talked about this issue on a number of occasions. He talks about the challenges in relation to native title. Minister, I would like to ask a question in relation to this. I understand that back in 2008 it was estimated that, given the rate of resolution, it would take about 30 years to resolve the current and anticipated native title claims. In about 2009 I think the government made a number of reforms to actually promote a speedy resolution of those types of cases. I understand that in the budget there were some announcements in relation to institutional reform to further enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the judicial system, particularly native title claims. Can you provide information about that particular measure, the anticipated impact and the resolution of those claims? I am happy to relate that back to Josh and his organisation in Queensland.

See this speech in context