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A new project by The Central Land Council will mean that about $750,000 annually of the rent money from Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park (UKTNP ) will go towards targeted community development projects in Central Australia.
After six months of consultation, traditional landowners of Uluru Kata Tjuta living in Docker River, Areyonga, Mutitjulu and Imanpa, all agreed on an alternative approach to allocating the majority of UKTNP rent monies.
This decision was fully endorsed at a Central Land Council meeting of 90 members representing 75 communities in Central Australia.
"I congratulate each community on these initiatives - they are choosing to invest their own money for a better future and the common good," CLC director David Ross said.
"The CLC is pleased to be able to help traditional landowners try and achieve a better balance between the rights of individual traditional owners and the needs of communities.
"It is a challenging situation and one which Aboriginal people in our region are increasingly attempting to improve," he said.
The money will be spent on projects which have been identified by traditional landowners to improve their daily lives and build a better future for their children.
Mr Ross said this funding would enable communities to enjoy some basic amenities and services which most Australians take for granted, but are not granted to many Indigenous communities.
"Projects to be funded include upgrades to a community's power supply, a workshop, basketball courts, a BMX track, a new store, an art and craft centre upgrade and other projects.
"Significantly the region has come together to agree on two priority projects: a feasibility study into petrol sniffing programs and treatment options for the region, and support for Anangu on dialysis in Alice Springs.
"In addition, some of the proposals present opportunities to attract further funding through Shared Responsibility Agreements with the Commonwealth Government," Mr Ross said.
In addition to $750,000 divided between Imanpa, Areyonga, Docker River and two outstations, Mutitjulu receives about $400,000 a year which is also tied to approved and budgeted community development projects within Mutijulu.
"I particularly congratulate Mutijulu Council on its efforts to ensure that this money is spent more wisely," Mr Ross said.
"It was unfortunate that the community attracted such negative publicity during the recent Coronial Inquiry when they have been working hard over the last months to support changes which will benefit the entire community.
"At the end of the day, let us all not forget that nearly 400,000 people a year visit Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park and traditional landowners are fully entitled to payments of rent.
"The CLC is very proud of this new initiative which will not only bring good social, cultural and economic outcomes, but also builds the capacity of communities to plan for the future" he said.
Uluru-KataTjuta National Park is on Aboriginal land and is leased to the Director of National
Parks.
The leaseback arrangements include a payment to traditional owners for the use of their land as a national park.
This rent money comprises a base amount plus an amount calculated as a percentage of the entrance fees paid by the public to use the park.
Traditional owners receive 25 per cent of the entrance fee, with the other amounts flowing back to the federal government.
The rent is paid to the Central Land Council which, under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, is required to pay an equivalent
amount ‘to or for the benefit of the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land’.
In 2004 the entry fee for the Park increased from $16 to $25 per person and this led to a substantial increase in the rent flowing to traditional landowners.
The CLC consulted with traditional landowners about how to use the increased rent. On their instructions the Land Council determined not to increase direct payments to traditional landowners but to apply the increased rent 'for the benefit of' traditional landowners by using it in targeted community development projects.
Direct payments to the traditional landowners are now capped at 2003 levels, and all future increases will flow to community development projects.
The rent monies are used in three different ways:
20 per cent is provided to Mutitjulu Community Incorporated for use on community projects for the benefit of traditional owners. The budget for expenditure of these funds is submitted to the CLC for approval.
A set amount is paid to Yangkuntjatjarra Kutu Aboriginal Corporation (YK) for distribution to the several hundred identified traditional Aboriginal owners of the Park. Direct cash payments are not permitted. Last year this amounted to 45.47 per
cent of the rent monies.
Traditional owners come from a number of communities in the NT and nearby South Australia. Distributions through YK are held annually involving many hundreds of traditional owners, and benefits are paid by purchase order not by cash. Last year the payments to each family through YK amounted to about $15,000 each which was then divided among numerous extended family members in accordance with Aboriginal
custom.
32.26 per cent is used to fund targeted community development projects in the communities of Imanpa, Docker River, Areyonga and permanently occupied outstations.
Community development projects in other communities where the relevant traditional owners live or intend to live can be targeted in coming years. This last category of funding has been made possible due to the recent increase in the price of the park entry fee
and the subsequent increase in monies flowing to traditional owners. Overall, more than 50 per cent of the Uluru rent monies are targeted at defined community development projects.
2.27 per cent is spent on administration fees
It is often forgotten by the wider community that nearly 400,000 people a year visit Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park and that Aboriginal people are fully entitled to, and deserve, payments of rent. In particular for the people of Mutitjulu, this large number of tourists in their back yard is inconvenient and difficult at the very least.
While Aboriginal people continue to be essentially dependent on welfare payments, have limited real employment opportunities and live an impoverished life, the attraction of a ‘windfall’ from the rent monies will continue to be important in their lives.
These windfalls may seem like relatively small amounts of money to outsiders, but when you don’t have much money it can represent a big event in your life.
Mobility is fundamental to Aboriginal people and so the acquisition of a second hand motor car has been the most frequent purchase from the rent monies.
The combination of cheap old cars, unethical sales, bad roads and limited maintenance mean these cars have a short life span. A number of strategies would need to be developed to resolve all of these issues. However, traditional owners do have the right to purchase a motor vehicle with their own funds.
Uluru and Kata Tjuta are sites of significant cultural importance to Anangu. The presence of hundreds of thousands of short terms visitors who do not understand this significance is a cultural pressure that Anangu face daily.' In order to promote greater understanding, Anangu have generously made their culture available for visitors through interpretive signs, through information brochures and publications, through guided tours and through the displays at the Cultural Centre. The ongoing contribution of Anangu to the management of the country is recognised in the World Heritage listing of the Park as a cultural landscape.
1 September 2005
