Clip from up here...Suze
Courier Mail 01 Sep 2000
Beattie defends title deal
Sean Parnell, Tony Koch and Brian Williams
THE widely criticised state-based native title regime did not require the support of
the mining
industry and indigenous groups to be successful, Premier Peter Beattie said yesterday.
Mr Beattie said he had written to two of his critics, Queensland Indigenous Working
Group chairman
Terry O'Shane and Queensland Mining Council chief executive Michael Pinnock, asking
them to support
the regime.
But Mr Beattie said the regime allowed for a tribunal to start operating from Monday
regardless of
their response, and he believed success would be shown in the number of mining
licences approved by
Christmas.
Fallout continued yesterday from the deal between state and federal Labor parties
which allowed the
regime to be passed in the Senate, but caused the resignation of federal Opposition
Aboriginal
affairs spokesman Daryl Melham.
Mr Melham quit in disgust, warning the amended laws - which ensured Aborigines' right
to negotiate
on mining but not on low impact exploration - could be later weakened without a
requirement to be
ratified by the Senate.
Former West Australian premier Carmen Lawrence has firmed as Mr Melham's likely
replacement, but
Opposition Leader Kim Beazley would yesterday say only that he had a "distinct
preference" on who
should take the position.
Mr Beattie, who told reporters he believed Mr Melham quit because the regime was "too
pro-mining",
said he expected to be criticised for pushing for the laws.
Queensland Mining Council director of operations Barrie Mathais said pastoralists and
native title
holders had different but equal rights.
A miner had to negotiate to accommodate a pastoralist or native title owner for
exploration rights
and then if mining went ahead also had to work out a compensation package agreeable to
all parties.
Mr Mathais said the industry was still unclear on negotiations between Mr Beattie and
Mr Beazley and
how proposed changes would affect operations.
Prominent Queensland Aboriginal leaders yesterday claimed they had been "sold out" by
the federal
Labor Party and the State Government and also expressed their support for Mr Melham.
Not all Aboriginal leaders were critical, though. Those from Cape York, where mining
and gas
pipelines are major issues, were supportive of the outcome and of Mr Beattie.
However, a spokesman for the Kullalli people, Steve Hagan of Toowoomba, said yesterday
the decision,
and Mr Melham's subsequent resignation, made for "a sad day for Aboriginal people".
"The decision is absolutely disgraceful because we have seen the results of low-impact
seismic
exploration in far south-west Queensland," Mr Hagan said.
"We have photographic evidence of explorers going through sacred sites. How would
metropolitan
dwellers feel if somebody drove a bulldozer straight through the Toowong cemetery?"
Executive director of Cairns-based Balkanu Pty Ltd Gerhardt Pearson said all sides had
to compromise
to achieve a workable outcome, but he was sad to see Mr Melham resign.
Cape York Land Council chairman Richie Ahmat said his organisation welcomed
confirmation that the
right to negotiate would apply to the grant of mining leases as it was "absolutely
essential".
Attorney-General Daryl Williams said the resignation of Mr Melham highlighted the deep
divisions
within Labor over the issue.
Democrats leader Meg Lees said federal Labor had "capitulated" to Peter Beattie and
failed to
protect the rights of indigenous Australians.
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