Tuesday 3rd December 1996
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No, this is not a joke.
The Larrakia Aboriginal people have lodged a claim on all undeveloped crown areas of land in and around Darwin. The agenda is pretty clear with one of the elders making it clear on television last night that if the correct amount of compensation was agreed upon they might be gracious enough to let their claim go.
The area includes beaches, parks and nature reserves.
This comes as Darwin is building its largest port worth hundreds of millions of dollars -throwing the whole project into doubt.
The lawyers are in there as thick as thieves like bees to the honeypot... they can smell a big one coming!
Yesterday Mr Howard told Federal Parliament, "These are the sort of claims that can have the impact of encouraging those in the community who would denigrate and destroy the native title process".
A spokesman for the Larraka tribe, Mr Bill Risk, who are to lodge their claim with the National Native Title tribunal tomorrow said that he was "stunned and disappointed" by Howard's remarks.
The Opposition spokesman on Aboriginal Affairs Mr Daryl Melham said that Howard was coming "close to the stage that they are saying if you are black in this country don't bother poutting in a claim for anything".
Melham also attacked for failing to rebuke the chief minister of the Northern Territory (where Darwin is located) who had described the claim as a "greedy money grab".
The chief minister, Shane Stone, went on to say, "I feel that this has set back the community relations enormously.... and will only add to divide out there."
And our "friend" Mr Murrandoo Yanner who burnt the Australian flag earlier this year in front of Parliament is back in the news.
You might recall that the ex-co-ordinator of the Carpentaria Land Council (CLC) has accused the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) of conspiring to remove the council from negotiations over the Century Zinc Project.
Yanner, a leading opponent of the billion dollar project, is also under fire about his spending habits while co-ordinator of the CLC. The Weekend Australian (a News Limited paper) reported in August statements by ATSIC commissioner Terry O'Shane that the review had found unauthorised spending with the CLC.
Yanner was at his best when he responded, "The thing we got most dirt out of during that report was the bullshit about I spent Au$250,000 on (air) charters or something... as if I sat in the air for a full year flying around.
"All this stuff about me and Clarence Walden (a staff member) and money and charters the KPMG audit puts to rest. There's no money missing, not a cent missing anywhere in the organisation."
He went on to claim that ATSIC have now taken over control of the CLC meaning that "the CLC has been effectively sidelined by ATSIC and the negotiations".
Now this report which amazingly made the lead story on page two in today's News Limited paper the Courier Mail comes just one day after News Limited chief Ken Cowley had had a few words to say about the speed of progress in this area.
I would make the interesting observation that this kind of pressure could be seen by Australians to be orchestrated. The pressure is, after all, being brought to bear on our government by a foreign owned paper when they are trying to get the media review board to change the laws to favour their stance for further media monopolisation in this country.
Is there not some kind of conflict of interest here... somehow I think so!
In the last three weeks the Australian dollar has risen over 3 cents.
His last match at Cardiff was against Wales with the Australian Wallabies winning comfortably by 28-19.
There have been a number of large fires west of Karana Downs with the winds and heat causing a real fire threat across the state of Queensland.
Will be spending part of today in the "big smoke" embarking on a new large web site for a government client.
This Friday we have our Christmas Party for staff, hope we have SOME rain before then - but not a repeat of the May 1996 floods!
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