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CLC Press Releases

18 December 2008
Senate see sense over waste dump ›› more
28 October 2008
Devils Marbles handed back to traditional owners ›› more
27 October 2008
Tanami Regional Partnership Agreement ›› more
27 October 2008
Warlpiri use royalties to build Yuendumu Pool ›› more
15 October 2008
Minister looks for distraction  ›› more
14 October 2008
CLC response to NTER review  ›› more
14 August 2008 2008
Communities have their say on intervention  ›› more
31 July 2008 2008
Fairfax news in bad taste  ›› more
24 July 2008 2008
election: accountability needed  ›› more
17 July 2008 2008
Royal commission needed into NT funding ›› more
11 July 2008 2008
Simpson Desert: the last land rights claim under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act  ›› more
8 July 2008 2008
Sacred site damage at Wilora  ›› more
30 May 2008
Seal the Mereenie Loop Road Now  ›› more
27 May 2008
Angela Pamela Negotiations  ›› more
9 May 2008
Angela Pamela and the native title process  ›› more
18 February 2008
Coalition should support permit system  ›› more
15 February 2008
Politicians threaten to derail fresh start  ›› more
22 January 2008
Police ignorance upsets Lajamanu community  ›› more
26 November 2007
Optimism for a fresh consensual approach on Aboriginal affairs  ›› more
21 November 2007
Concerns over Central Petroleum tactics  ›› more
 
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February 28-29 The second Central Land Council meeting is held at Amoonguna, east of Alice Springs. The meeting considers how traditional landowners should be represented.
April 3-4 The Central Land Council meets at Amoonguna. The two-day meeting is attended by eighty delegates representing forty-seven communities. DAA staff summarise the recommendations of Woodward's Second Report and the Council resolves to hold regional meetings to choose delegates to represent all language groups.
August

Prime Minister Whitlam hands over the lease to Daguragu Station. This was 3,236 square kilometres of land purchased from Wave Hill Station by the Gurindji with money provided by the Aboriginal Land Fund. To symbolise the transfer Mr Whitlam pours a handful of soil into the hands of Vincent Lingiari, one of those who led the walkoff and held the community together through eight years of struggle.

Nyawa jangkakani katiya-ma ngaliwa-nguny ngumpit-ku mula-ngkura patati-yiri warik-kara ngu-lu yan-i nyampa-yala-ni kula nyampa-wu, kuya-wu-wala. Ngu-laa ngali jimari kar-u katiya ngumpin nyawa karwa-lu langa-nka-ma kula welfare-kari-wu kula welfare-kari-wu. Ngura ngu-ngala-ngkulu ka-nya, ngu-lu linkara ka-nya lurpu.

" These important white men have come here to our ceremonial ground and they are welcome because they have not come for any other reason - just for this handover. We will be mates - White and Black. You Gurindji must keep this land safe for yourselves. It does not belong to any different 'welfare' man. They took our country away from us; now they have brought it back ceremonially."

Vincent Lingiari, 16 August 1975

Justice R.C. Ward, a judge of the Northern Territory Supreme Court, is appointed Interim Aboriginal Land Commissioner. The first case he hears in Central Australia is the Suplejack land claim.

The claim is lodged by the Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service (CAALAS) on behalf of Warlpiri traditional landowners when a pastoralist tries to lease the area. In 1977 the traditional landowners withdrew their claim over most of Suplejack Station in a negotiated settlement during the Warlpiri and Kartangarurru-Kurintji land claim. The budget allocation to the Aboriginal Land Fund Commission is cut back to $2 million because of Commonwealth Government financial problems.

September 16-17 The Central Land Council meets in the basement of the Elkira Court Motel in Alice Springs. The Aboriginal delegates make it clear that their council must be independent of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, with its own office and staff. Charles Perkins is elected as Chairman, Wenten Rubuntja is elected Vice Chairman and Geoff Eames is seconded from Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service (CAALAS) to be the first CLC lawyer. The Council considers the proposed Aboriginal Land Bill, directs the staff to begin preparation for land claims, including needs-based claims in Alice Springs, and investigates the possibility of the Aboriginal Land Fund Commission purchasing pastoral leases.
October The Whitlam Government introduces the Aboriginal Land (Northern Territory) Bill 1975 into Parliament. The Bill proposes land rights in the Northern Territory based on the Woodward recommendations with land claimed on grounds of need as well as traditional affiliation and traditional landowners maintaining control over mining and development.
November Justice Ward begins hearing the needs-based claim for Alice Springs town camps. The claim, which involves twelve sections of land, is organised by Wenten Rubuntja in two weeks of creekbed meetings with traditional landowners. Justice Ward states publicly that he is likely to recommend that all the land be granted, but the hearing is never finished. On 11 November 1975 the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, dismisses Gough Whitlam and his Government. Parliament is dissolved before it can finish considering the Aboriginal Land (Northern Territory) Bill. Caretaker Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser orders Justice Ward to stop hearing land claims, and calls an election for 13 December. In the Northern Territory the election campaign is bitterly fought. The Australian Mining Industry Council, pastoralists and the Northern Territory administration mount a massive media campaign against land rights. On the national scene the main issues are the economy and the dismissal and Whitlam is swept from office in a landslide victory for Malcolm Fraser and the Liberal-Country Party coalition.