Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I only have a short contribution to make on the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Bill 2017. These amendments are welcome as they will see a resolution to several longstanding land claims within Kakadu National Park. Under these charges, the relevant areas will finally be recognised as Aboriginal land and leased to the Director of National Parks, as is the case with the rest of Kakadu. As with all of Kakadu and all the jointly managed national parks, it is incumbent on the Director of National Parks to work with traditional owners to jointly manage the park in a collaborative and meaningful way. These amendments provide an ideal opportunity to review and address some of the historic bureaucratic joint management processes—which I understand have caused some little tension—to help to resolve some of these issues and to more actively encourage and properly consult with traditional owners over management initiatives. The Greens will be supporting these amendments.