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Land Rights and Native Title
Audio and transcript of The Law Report (ABC Radio) about compulsory acquisition of native title land in the Northern Territory for private use by a third party (May 2008).
Includes interviews with Project Director Sean Brennan and Principal Legal Officer for the Northern Land Council Ron Levy, regarding the High Court decision in Griffiths v NT Minister for Lands, Planning and Environment [2008] HCA 20.
Article about High Court litigation over fishing on coastal waters within the boundaries of Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory (January 2008).
Written by Sean Brennan and Peta MacGillivray and published in the Indigenous Law Bulletin Volume 7(2).
Presentation  on recent developments in native title case law (June 2007).
Delivered by Sean Brennan at a Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission seminar in Sydney.
Focuses on Federal Court trial and appeal decisions since the Yorta Yorta High Court decision in December 2002.
Article discussing 2006 changes to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act in the Northern Territory and their impact on Land Council power, communal ownership and economic development (December 2006).
Written by Project Director Sean Brennan and published in the Australian Indigenous Law Reporter
'Opinion piece about the Noongar achieving Federal Court recognition as native title holders for the Perth metropolitan area (25 September 2006).
Written by Project Director Sean Brennan and published in the Age. A copy of the judgment by Justice Wilcox of the Federal Court can be found here.'
Centre report on parliamentary consideration of Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Bill 2006 (11 September 2006).
Explanation of amendments accepted and rejected, as well as main points of debate.
Opinion piece: Land Rights Changes Need Injection of Common Sense (8 August 2006).
Written by Project Director Sean Brennan and published in the Age. Discusses proposed Commonwealth amendments to the Northern Territory land rights legislation.
Centre Submission to Senate Community Affairs Committee Inquiry into Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Bill 2006 (July 2006).
Addresses the Commonwealth Government's dramatic changes to the high water mark land rights legislation in Australia. Other submissions, transcript of public hearing and the final report can be found here.
Commonwealth Intervention on Aboriginal Communities in the Northern Territory
Centre submission to the Northern Territory Emergency Response Review Board on measures taken under the Commonwealth Intervention in remote NT Aboriginal communities (22 August 2008).
Authored by Sean Brennan and based on the work of a small team of researchers since late 2007. Deals with alcohol restrictions, income management and compulsory five-year leases.
Centre Submission and Supplementary Submission on compulsory acquisition of Aboriginal property rights for Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee inquiry into Commonwealth intervention on Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory (August 2007).
Written by Project Director Sean Brennan, Centre Intern Talia Epstein and Senior Research Director Edwina MacDonald. Singles out one aspect of this very large legislative package, the compulsory acquisition of Aboriginal property rights and the unfair way in which the compensation consequences have been addressed.
See also facts sheets and other documents regarding the Commonwealth Intervention here.
Constitutional Change
Opinion piece about John Howard’s proposal for a constitutional preamble acknowledging Indigenous people (October 2007).
Written by Project Director Sean Brennan and published in Online Opinion.
Governance
Article discussing a constitutional framework for Indigenous governance (September 2006).
Written by Centre Associate Alex Reilly and published in the Sydney Law Review. Calls for a conceptual shift towards explicit reognition of Indigenous governance in the formal institutions of the Australian state.
Voting Rights
ABC TV's Message Stick program about new restrictions on enrolment and the right to vote in federal elections, and their impact on Indigenous people (March 2007).
Includes contributions by Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma, Lance Macdonald (Chairman of Papunya), Sean Brennan, Gary Nairn (Special Minister of State), Warren Snowdon (Federal MP for Lingiari), Phil Diak (Australian Electoral Commission) and Simon Sheikh (United Nations Youth Association of Australia). |
