NO TO TOWNSHIP LEASES

DEMAND 4

End compulsory 5-year leases over Aboriginal township land taken through the Intervention. 

Stop pressuring communities to sign extensions on these leases. 

Lift the requirement that 40-year leases are signed with the government before housing can be built. 

Rescind all township leases signed since the Intervention began in 2007.

References

"The days of the failed collective" (pdf)

Former Central Land Council lawyer Lean Terrill, writing in the UNSW Law Journal, presents a thorough analysis of the new category of "township leases". Terrill debunks the arguments that collective ownership of land presents a barrier to economic development and says that the push for township leases is an attempt to undermine Aboriginal control
 

Native Title Report 2009

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commission presents a detailed explanation of land tenure reforms under the NT Intervention and the deterioration of Aboriginal land rights. The Commission states that compulsory five year leases, "represent a low point in the government's treatment of Aboriginal land".

RDA the smoke and mirrors way

Central Land Council media release on reforms to the NTER introduced by the Labor government in 2009, which failed to fully reinstate the RDA. This media release is followed by a briefing on why compulsory five year leases should not be considered a "special measure" under the RDA
 

Loss of Rights - the despair of Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory (pdf)

A submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination compiled by 'concerned Australians'. This report includes results from an extensive survey of Aboriginal people on the impact of the Intervention, with sections on land tenure and housing reforms.
 

The 'national emergency' and land rights reform - Separating fact from fiction

A briefing paper for Oxfam international by Jon Altman, which critiques changes to the Land Rights Act and the permit system made through the Intervention.

Explore the reality further:                               What's the next demand?