Central Land Council

STREHLOW ACT "CONTEMPTUOUS"

Central Land Council Chairman David Long says the passing of the Strehlow Research Centre Act by the Northern Territory Government is another chapter in the Northern Territory's disregard for Aboriginal interests. The Act, passed late November, establishes a centre to manage a collection of material of considerable cultural and religious significance to Aboriginal people of Central Australia.

Known as the 'Strehlow Collection' the material contains anthropological data, films, tapes, sacred objects and artefacts collected by the late anthropologist Theodore Strehlow. The legislation establishes a board of management that is beyond the control of Aboriginal people and need not have any Aboriginal members. And in a move that cuts across principles of parliament democracy, the functions and powers of the board are subject to secret agreements between the NT Government and Professor Strehlow's widow - agreements which the Government refused to table in the Assembly.

At a time when museums and universities around the country are quietly returning material from their collections to traditional owners, the Strehlow Act expressly charges the board with holding on to the collection. In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and the NT Chief Minister, David Long describes the state of affairs as scandalous. "The contempt it reveals demonstrates the moral and managerial bankruptcy of the NT Government," the CLC Chairman wrote.