Central Land Council

The CLC establishes a north-west regional office at Kalkarindji, near Daguragu.

The new Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA) issues a work certificate authorising the Northern Territory Government's proposed flood mitigation dam on the Todd River at Junction Waterhole, nine kilometres north of Alice Springs. The Junction Waterhole dam will damage and desecrate known sacred sites, including one which will be permanently submerged under water. Many of the initial consultations have been conducted by Northern Territory Government ministers and staff from the Department of Mines and Energy rather than the AAPA. Not only have many traditional landowners been left out of discussions but a lot of confusion has been created about the basic facts of the proposal - one tour of the dam site took traditional landowners to a site two kilometers away.

Senior women custodians for Kunjarra (Devils Pebbles) complain to police about harassment by a mining developer, Lutz Frankenfeld, who wants permission to quarry granite from Kunjarra. The custodians refused permission to mine the area when Mr Frankenfelds's company applied to the former Aboriginal Sacred Sites Protection Authority in November 1988, and now he visits senior custodians at their homes claiming to have been encouraged to approach them directly by a Northern Territory Government minister. The harassment highlights the problems of the amended Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act under which the Minister for Lands can release confidential information including the names of custodians.

He was talking sweet to us. Talking about royalties for our sacred sites. I told him I'm sorry he cannot have that sacred site and I showed him other stones he can have that are not sacred. Kumanjayi Nelson Napurrula

When the CLC attempts to clarify the procedures for excision applications under the Northern Territory Government's new legislation, the Minister for Lands informs the CLC that there are no administrative guidelines. Although many pastoral living area applications under Northern Territory legislation date back nearly fifteen years, more than 130 current applications must now start from scratch. The CLC attempts to begin direct negotiations with pastoralists, but most refuse to participate on the advice of the Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Gerry Hand hands over title to 2,641 square kilometres of land, the Chilla Well land claim, north-west of Alice Springs. This is the first area handed back in the CLC region since Mt Allan in October 1988.

The ALP is returned to government, although by a much slimmer margin. The CLP campaign in the Territory focussed on Aboriginal issues but local Labor member Warren Snowdon is returned to office with an increased vote - the only swing towards Labor anywhere in Australia. The Land Councils renew their call for consultations on a treaty.

Robert Tickner is appointed as the new Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.

The CLC signs a new exploration agreement with North Flinders Mines at Lajamanu. The agreement reached between traditional landowners and the company covers 138 square kilometres adjoining the existing Granites Gold Mine. CLC enters into an agreement with Magellan Petroleum for exploration over 15,859 square kilometres in the Ngalia Basin, which extends from west of Nyirrpi through Yuendumu towards the Stuart Highway. About half of the area to be explored is on Aboriginal land and this is the first oil and gas exploration permit issued in the CLC area since the 1987 amendments to the Land Rights Act.

In that time the CLC has negotiated mining company access to 35,000 square kilometres of Aboriginal land. Ninety-four exploration applications have been received and eighty per cent of these have been processed. Ninety-five per cent of the Northern Territory's mineral output by value comes from Aboriginal land.

The Power and Water Authority releases a 280-page draft Environmental Impact Statement for the 'Proposed Flood Mitigation and Recreation Dam' at Junction Waterhole. It's the first public information released on the dam and many custodians are shocked and angry. They reject claims that they approved the project and approach the CLC for help. The Land Council employs a dam engineer, Dr Stephen Webb, to evaluate the project.

A CLC delegation joins indigenous representatives from around the world at the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP) in Geneva, and the World Council of Indigenous Peoples and the International Indigenous Women's Conference in Norway. The WGIP meets annually to work towards an international standard for the protection of indigenous rights.

When I went to Norway and Troms these two ladies took me to their house for a cup of tea and they were asking me lots of questions. They belong to that place, and I was telling them we've got to show something to our children, so our children can grow up really strong. So they can look out on their own country and their own sacred sites. We got to do that. We got to fight for our children and our land, and we got to put our children to carry on. And they were really pleased. Kumanjayi Napurrula, CLC delegate to the World Council for Indigenous Peoples, 1990

The National Federation of Land Councils calls on the Federal Government to honour its promise of a treaty with Aboriginal people, rejecting a proposed 'instrument of reconciliation'. August, One of Australia's leading dam engineers, Dr Stephen Webb, tells custodians that the proposed dam at Junction Waterhole is poorly designed and unsuitable for flood mitigation. Dr Webb was engaged by the CLC to provide custodians with an independent assessment of the dam proposal. Custodians reiterate their opposition to the dam but Northern Territory Government officials, including the Chief Minister, Marshall Perron, claim they have already given their approval. CLC

Director Kumanjayi Ross says that the mishandling of the dam highlights the failure of the new sacred sites legislation: They've been playing this dam every which way. They told the non-Aboriginal people that they had the sacred sites clearance to build this dam. That's a lie. They told Aboriginal people that they were proposing a flood mitigation dam that would save lives. That's a lie. And they told everyone that this full dam proposal was the best way to solve the town's flood problem. Well, now that we've had an independent expert examine the proposal we all know that this dam is a waste of money that would never do the job. Kumanjayi Ross, CLC Director

The Aboriginal Rabbit Control Program is established at Mutitjulu and Imanpa communities to reduce the feral population, provide meat for community stores and employment for community members.

Chief Minister Marshall Perron calls on the Commonwealth Government to transfer control of the Land Rights Act to the Northern Territory Government. He wants to end land claims, remove the traditional landowner's right to consent to mining, weaken sacred sites protection, reduce funding for the Land Councils, and the break-up of the Land Councils into smaller groups.

Speaking on behalf of Aboriginal people throughout Central Australia we say that land rights must stay with the Commonwealth Government because the Northern Territory Government has fought against land rights for many years and is not trusted by Aboriginal people. CLC resolution, Negri River 17 October 1990

Centrecorp signs a joint venture agreement for a $17-million wilderness lodge at Watarrka (Kings Canyon) National Park. The resort is to include a three-star 100-room lodge, 160 backpacker beds, and extensive caravan and camping grounds.

We want to be part of everything that happens in the Northern Territory - the whole growth of this place. We want to be able to benefit from what happens in the Northern Territory because besides you people it belongs to us also, and the rest of Australia. CLC Deputy Chairman Geoff Shaw

CLC signs two mining agreements authorising two new gold mines -one at Dead Bullock Soak with North Flinders Mines (NFM) and one at Tanami with the Tanami Joint Venturers (TJV). Both mines were explored for and brought to production under the Land Rights Act.

This project has moved smoothly and quickly from exploration to production under the provisions of the Land Rights Act. TJV has built a strong and positive relationship with Aboriginal people and their representatives in the CLC that has been of benefit to us all. Mike Palmer, TJV General Manager

Northern Territory Freehold Title for Gosse Bluff Scientific Reserve is granted to members of Tnorula Aboriginal Corporation, which represents the traditional landowners. The corporation then leases the area back to the Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory for a period of ninety-nine years. The grant follows years of disappointment and negotiation following the secret alienation of the area in 1984, which prevented traditional owners from claiming the land under the Land Rights Act. A local management committee with four traditional owners and two CCNT representatives is proposed to advise on day-to-day management.

The first applications for community living areas are lodged by the CLC under the Crown Lands Act which the Northern Territory Government amended following the Memorandum of Agreement on living areas. Sixteen applications will be lodged over the next eighteen months but only four pastoralists are willing to negotiate.