Monday 7 August, 2006

Land Right's Act under threat

This entry is an edited version of a GetUp email: Under the guise of promoting economic development for indigenous Australians, the Federal Government wants to ram through new legislation this Tuesday that jeopardises future generations of Aboriginal people.

The law will amend the Land Rights Act, stripping away power from one of the only true representative bodies, the Land Councils, while pressuring Aboriginal communities to hand over control of their lands for 99 years. Many of those who this new law affects most have not even been told. While the government claims the 99-year leases are voluntary, traditional owners are being cajoled into signing away their rights to their land just to secure basic services that we all deserve, like houses and schools.

Only your senators can put the brakes on this legislation, to allow time for real debate and understanding. Tell them now that a scant one-day Parliamentary inquiry should not be permitted to rubber stamp a policy that will leave four generations without land or leadership.

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