Grose, Peter --- "Affirming Indigenous Rights: A Queensland Frieze" [1997] AUJlHRights 16; (1997) 4(1) Australian Journal of Human Rights 70
[1] BA (UQ), LLB (QUT) MLS (British Columbia); Lecturer, Faculty of Commerce and Administration, Griffith University.
[3] Queensland Department of Families Youth and Community Care. Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Alternative Governing Structures Program. Program Description and Funding Guidelines: A Process for Planning Community Decision-Making (Queensland Government, Brisbane, 1996) (Hereafter AGSP: Community Decision-Making).
[4] Grose P "Modern juridical foundations and developments in the recognition of indigenous rights in Australia: contingency v inherency"(SJD Dissertation, Bond University, submitted January 1997).
[5] Art 7, Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as agreed upon by the Members of the Working Group of Indigenous Populations at its eleventh session. E/CN.4/Sub.2/29; Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Bringing Them Home: Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families (Sydney, 1997).
[6] Existing models in Australia of "bottom-up" federalism are provided by the Tangentyere Council in Alice Strings and the Pitjantjatjara Land Council of Central Australia: see also Coombs HC Aboriginal Autonomy: Issues and Strategies, Chapter 15 "Initiatives in Aboriginal political organisation" (Cambridge University Press, 1994) at pp 175-183.
[7] McGrath A (ed) Contested Ground: Australian Aborigines under the British Crown Sydney (Allen & Unwin, 1995) p xxix, where she questions the appropriateness of the term "post-colonial" on two main grounds: 1. Aborigines still continue to be colonised. 2. Australia still acknowledges its imperial allegiance.
[8] Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Budget Statement 1995-96 (Queensland Government, Brisbane, 1995-96) pp 161-162.
[9] Bimrose G "Alternative Governing Structures: Deed of Grant in Trust Communities, Mornington Island and Aurukun", [1994] AboriginalLawB 27; (1994) 3(68) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 13-15.
[10] AGSP: Community Decision-Making, op cit p 6.
[11] Ibid.
[12] The same situation applies to the other states and to Australia at the federal level. The exception at an inchoate stage is the Draft Constitution of the Northern Territory: Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory. Sessional Committee on Constitutional Development Final Draft Constitution for the Northern Territory August 1996.
[13] See (1996) "1.3 Land Law" Chapter Nine Legislative Regulation in Queensland Part A Historical Background The Laws of Australia (Sydney, LBC Information Services).
[15] Ibid, at 181.
[16] Queensland Government Gazette v 1, pp 1-3
[17] Reynolds H and May D "Queensland" in McGrath, op cit, pp 168-207; Professor Rigsby's account in Legislation Review Committee 1991. Towards Self-Government, A Discussion Paper by Legislation Review Committee Inquiring into legislation relating to the management of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities in Queensland pp 89-92 (Hereafter Towards Self-Government).
[18] 1996. "1.3 Land Law" Chapter Nine Legislative Regulation in Queensland Part B Form of Title Division 1 Nature of Interest in Land Subdivision (i) Aboriginal Reserves The Laws of Australia (Sydney, LBC Information Services).
[19] Compare with Cranston R "The Aborigines and the law: an overview", [1972] UQLawJl 4; (1973) 8(1) University of Queensland Law Journal 60 at 70: "... reserves were a microcosm of totalitarian states."
[20] Craig D The Social Impact of the State on an Aboriginal Reserve in Queensland, Australia \t(PhD Thesis, Berkeley, University of California: University Microfilms International 1980) p 25.
[21] Hasluck P Shades of Darkness: Aboriginal Affairs 1925-1965 (Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1988).
[22] Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Acts Amendment Act 1934 (Qld), s 24.
[23] Hasluck, op cit; Australia. Department of Territories The Australian Aborigines (Canberra, Australia, The Department of Territories 1967).
[24] Aborigines' and Torres Strait Islanders' Affairs Act 1965; Aborigines Act 1971; Local Government (Aboriginal Lands) Act 1978; Aborigines and Islanders Act Amendment Act 1979; Wearne, op cit pp 17-25; Craig, op cit pp 34-38.
[25] See Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Acts 1897-1939 (Qld); Aborigines Act 1971-84 (Qld).
[26] For an account of the Bjelke-Petersen implementation of this see Brennan F Land Rights Queensland Style: The Struggle for Aboriginal Self-Management (St Lucia Queensland University of Queensland Press 1992) pp 10-14 (Hereafter Land Rights).
[27] Brennan F "Consultation: Queensland's new legislation", (1984) 11 Aboriginal Law Bulletin 1,4,5,9,12; Pearson N "The Deed of Grant in Trust and Hope Vale Aboriginal Community, North Queensland", (1989) 2(38) 12-14.
[28] (1996) "1.3 Land Law" Chapter Nine Legislative Regulation in Queensland Part B Form of Title Division 1 Nature of Interest in Land Subdivision (ii) Deeds of Grant in Trust Subdivision (iii) Contents of a Deed of Grant in Trust The Laws of Australia (Sydney, LBC Information Services).
[31] Queensland. Department of Aboriginal and Islander Affairs 1981. "Self-Determination" Aborigines and Islanders in Queensland, Department of Aboriginal and Islander Affairs, Brisbane (unpaginated, at "E") (Italics added).
[32] Ibid compare with Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984 (Qld), s 82 Regulations 3.
[33] Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen (1982) 153 CLR 168.
[34] The Queensland legislation was held to be invalid in Mabo v Queensland (No. 1) (1989) 166 CLR 186.
[35] Brennan F "State land rights and federal reconciliation", (1992) 68 Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration 11-13; and Brennan F Land Rights (1992), Chapter 5, particularly, \tpp 127-156.
[36] For criticisms of the Act see Miller B "Clayton's land rights. The Queensland Aboriginal Land Act -- an Aboriginal Coordinating Council perspective", (1991) 2(52) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 10-12; Tatten R and Djnnabah "Queensland land rights: - An illusion floating on rhetoric", (1991) 2(52) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 13-15.
[37] Brennan F "The Queensland Aboriginal Land Act 1991", (1991) 2(50) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 10-12; see also Editorial, same issue, for discussion of the deficiencies of the consultative framework, at 3.
[38] For a listing of the 14 Aboriginal Community Councils and the 17 Torres Strait Islander Councils see, Towards Self-Government op cit, Table 8 at p 143 and Table 9 at 144.
[39] Australian Bureau of Statistics. 1991 Census of Population and Housing ATSI Communities in Queensland Preliminary Counts.
[40] Madden R National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey 1994. Detailed Findings (Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra, 1994) p 94.
[41] Community Services (Aborigines ) Act 1984, Pt IV ss 46-53.
[42] Miller B The Aspirations of Aborigines Living at Yarrabah in Relating to Local Management and Human Rights Discussion Paper no 7 (Canberra Human Rights Commission 1986).
[43] Morgan H "The dangers of Aboriginal sovereignty", (1992) News Weekly 29August, 11-13.
[44] Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Regional Report of Inquiry in Queensland Commissioner Wyvill, QC (Canberra, AGPS 1991) pp 137-8. (Hereafter Queensland \tRegional Report)
[45] AGSP: Community Decision-Making, op cit.
[46] Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody National Report (Commissioner Elliott Johnston, QC (AGPS, Canberra, 1991) (Hereafter RCIADIC).
[47] AGSP: Community Decision-Making, op cit.
[48] Ibid p 10.
[49] Queensland Parliamentary Committee of Public Accounts Financial Administration of Aboriginal and Island Councils Report 2: Effectiveness of Councils, Support for Councils, Training (Parliamentary Committee of Public Accounts Report No. 8 February 1991). (Hereafter Report No.8).
[50] Queensland Legislation Review Committee Inquiry into the Legislation Relating to the Management of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities in Queensland. Final Report (1991). .(Hereafter Final Report).
[51] RCIADIC, op cit.
[52] Hogan M et al (eds) Death in the Hands of the State ( Redfern Legal Publishing, Sydney, 1988).
[53] RCIADIC, op cit v 2, Chapter 20 "Self-Determination", at 501.
[54] House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs A Chance for the Future: Training in Skills for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Community Management and Development (AGPS, Canberra, 1989) para 1.8.
[55] House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs Our Future Our Selves: Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Community Control, Management and Resources (AGPS, Canberra, 1990) p 12, cited in RCIADIC, op cit v 4, 20.2.4 ( Italics added).
[56] Walker v The State of New South Wales [1994] HCA 64; (1994) 126 ALR 321; Isabel Coe on behalf of the Wiradjuri Tribe v The Commonwealth of Australia and State of New South Wales [1993] HCA 42; (1993) 68 ALJR 110.
[57] Hazlehurst K "Introduction: Unyielding domains in the post-colonial relationship" in Hazlehurst K (ed) Legal Pluralism and the Colonial Legacy: Indigenous experiences of justice in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (Aldershot, Avebury 1995) pp. ix-xxxv; McDonald D Whimp K "Australia's Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody: law and justice issues" in Legal Pluralism and the Colonial Legacy (1995) pp 188-216.
[58] RCIADIC, op cit v 1, "Framework of this Report."
[59] Ibid v 4, Recommendation 219, p 102.
[60] The Law Reform Commission The Recognition of Aboriginal Customary Laws. Summary Report Report No. 31 (AGPS, Canberra, 1986); for government response see, Office of Indigenous Affairs, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Aboriginal Customary Laws: Report on Commonwealth Implementation of the Recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission (AGPS, Canberra, 1994).
[61] Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Overview Committee An Agenda for Action: The First Report of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Overview Committee (Brisbane, The State of Queensland (Department of Families, Youth and Community Care, 1996), Recommendation 33, p 104 (Hereafter Overview Committee).
[62] AGSP: Community Decision-Making, op cit p 12; citing RCIADIC, op cit v 4, pp 22-30.
[63] Ibid.
[64] Contrast National Aboriginal and Islanders Legal Services Secretariat (NAILLS) 1991. "Stopping the deaths: a spectrum of possibilities for self-determination" RCIADIC Submission para 12.16; cited in RCIADIC, op cit v 2 at para 20.2.10.
[65] Report No.8, op cit p 5.
[66] Ibid pp 6-7.
[67] Ibid p 33.
[68] Ibid p 32.
[69] Dicey A Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (10th ed, 1st ed 1885, Macmillan, London, 1959) p 193.
[70] Report No. 8, op cit pp 13-18.
[71] Ibid pp 16, 18; cited also in Queensland. Criminal Justice Commission Report on an Investigation into Complaints Against Six Aboriginal and Island Councils (Criminal Justice Commission, Brisbane, 1994) p 11.
[72] Rowse T Remote Possibilities: The Aboriginal Domain and the Administrative Imagination (NARU, ANU, Darwin, 1992).
[73] Parker C "Legislation of the highest standard? Fundamental legislative principles in the Queensland Legislative Standards Act 1992", [1993] GriffLawRw 10; (1993) 2(2) Griffith Law Review 123 at 132-134.
[74] Calder v Attorney-General of British Columbia (1973) 34 DLR (3d) 145; Nowegijick v The Queen (1983) 144 DLR (3d) 193; Simon v The Queen (1985) 24 DLR (4th) 390; Regina v Sparrow 70 DLR (4 th) 385.
[75] Menominee Tribes of Indians v United States [1968] USSC 108; 391 US 404 (!968); Morton v Mancari [1974] USSC 132; 417 US 535 (1974); Bryan v Itasca County [1976] USSC 111; 426 US 373 (1976); Santa Clara Pueblo v Martinez [1978] USSC 76; 436 US 49 (1978); County of Oenida v Oenida Indian Nation [1985] USSC 97; 105 S Ct 1245 at 1258-1259 (1985).
[76] RCIADIC, op cit v 4 p 10.
[77] Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984 (Qld); Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984 (Qld); parallel ss 19 (b) (i)-(ii).
[78] Final Report, op cit pp 11-12, citing as examples the four shires of Burke, Carpentaria, Cook and Torres.
[79] Final Report, ibid p 7.
[80] ATSI Related Submissions in Queensland Electoral and Administrative Review Commission Local Authorities External Boundaries Review, Public Submissions v 11 (1990).
[81] Langton M "Indigenous self-government and self-determination: overlapping jurisdictions at Cape York" in Fletcher C (ed) Aboriginal Self-Determination in Australia (Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 1994) pp 131-136.
[82] Recommendation 10, p 21; see also Towards Self-Government, op cit pp 94-96.
[83] Electoral and Administrative Review Commission Report on the Local Authority Electoral System of Queensland (September 1990) chapter 19 pp 112-115, Recommendations Para 19.19.
[84] Poynton P "Into the deep black yonder: - EARC does Cape York", (1992) 2(55) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 10-12.
[85] Limerick M Discussion Paper on Alternative Governing Structures (OASIA 1994) p 2.
[86] Sampford C "Fundamental legislative principles: their meaning and rationale", (1994) 24 Queensland Law Society Journal 541.
[87] Arrington C "Giving economic accounts: accounting as cultural practice", (1993) 18 (2-3) Accounting, Organisations and Society 107-124; Lehman C "The `real' cultural significance of accounts", (1987) 12(5) Accounting, Organisations and Society 503-522; Tinker A et al "The normative origins of positive theories: ideology and accounting thought", (1982) 7(2) Accounting, Organisations and Society 167-200.
[88] Report No.8,,op cit pp 29-30.
[89] Ibid p 32.
[90] Ibid pp 32-33.
[91] Final Report, op cit.
[92] For identification and biographical background of members see ibid pp 1-2.
[93] Ibid p iii.
[94] Ibid p 1.
[95] Above p 8.
[96] Above n 37.
[97] Final Report, op cit Appendix 2 pp 47-52.
[98] Ibid Appendix 3 p 53.
[99] Ibid p 4.
[100] Recommendation 21 lists the proposed powers and functions, ibid p 26.
[101] Towards Self-Government, op cit p 3.
[102] Ibid paras 361-362; 405-413.
[103] Final Report, op cit Recommendation 64 p 38.
[104] Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Mornington: A Report by the Federal Race Discrimination Commissioner (AGPS, Canberra, 1993) (Hereafter Mornington) ; Miller B The Aspirations of Aborigines Living at Yarrabah in Relation to Local Management and Human Right, (Human Rights Commission, Canberra, 1986).
[105] Final Report, p 8.
[106] Towards Self-Government, op cit p 1.
[107] Towards Self-Government, op cit p 8.
[108] Ibid p v; and see Final Report p 21 para 9(e).
[109] Queensland. Legislative Assembly of Queensland Parliamentary Committee of Public Accounts Report on the Financial Administration of Aboriginal and Island Councils Report No. 27 (Brisbane, Legislative Assembly 3 December 1993).
[110] Ibid p 9, citing Report No 8, op cit p 5.
[111] Ibid p 10, citing Final Report, op cit Recommendation 50 p 13.
[112] Ibid p 23.
[113] Final Report, op cit Recommendation 12 pp 24.
[114] Towards Self-Government, op cit Appendix 2 pp 131-134.
[115] Final Report, op cit p 8.
[116] For examples of initiatives see Adams J Castelain J and Martin D Aurukun Community Plan. Report One: Community Survey Homeland Development (March 1994); Report Two: Community Survey Dealing with Grog (May 1994); Report Three: Homeland Support Agency (August 1994) [Townsville], Yalga-binbi Institute for Community Development, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Corporation; Wynter J Hill J with the Lockhart River Community and special assistance from Wayne Butcher Alternative Governing Structures Program. Targeting 2000: A Plan For Community Action Working Together and the Alternative Governing Structures Program (Lockhart River, October 1995, Lockhart River Aboriginal Council).
[117] Above n 5 and accompanying text.
[118] Final Report, op cit p 21.
[119] Mabo v Queensland (No.2) (1992) 175 CLR 1.
[120] (1996) 141 ALR 129 at 53 per Gaudron J at 70 per Gummow J.
[121] Hansard 1967, v 54 , p 284.
[122] Final Report, op cit pp 22-24.
[123] AGSP: Community Decision-Making, op cit para 7.2 p 17.
[124] Ibid pp 15-34.
[125] Ibid para 2.1 p 8
[126] Ibid para 8.3 p 21.
[127] Eg, non-support by the Queensland Coalition for the Cape York Heads of Agreement, signed 5 February 1996; omission of providing funding prevented evidence being heard from individuals in the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families; in disregard of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Palm Island decision, No H95/74-80, H96/88, the Queensland Coalition elected to take the wages claim to the Federal Court of Australia, but subsequently settled out of court.
[129] Mornington, op cit.
[130] Report No. 8, op cit.
[131] Queensland Legislation Review Committee Inquiry into the Legislation Relating to the Management of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities in Queensland. Final Report 1991.
[132] RCIADIC, op cit.
[133] Macklem P "Normative dimensions of an Aboriginal right of self-government", (1995) 21(1) Queen's Law Journal 173 at 217.
[134] Ibid pp 217-218.
[135] See the Goss Labor government Social Justice Platform at 4.2.7 and 4.2.8, cited in Overview Committee, op cit p 23. (The Overview Committee then proceeded to implore implementation.)
[136] Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, E/CN.4/Sub.2/29
[137] Queensland. Department of Family Services and Aboriginal and Islander Affairs. Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Guide to Proposed Amendments to the Community Services Acts and Regulations Version 2 -- (Department of Family Services and Aboriginal and Islander Affairs, January 1995), p 1.
[138] Final Report, op cit p iii.
[139] Overview Committee, op cit Recommendation 32, p 104.
[140] Australia. Commonwealth Parliament. Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Queensland. Legislative Assembly. Queensland Parliament. Public Accounts Committee January Review of Financial Reporting Requirements for Aboriginal Councils and Torres Strait Island Councils, Issues 1 Paper (1997) p 1.
[141] Ibid
[142] Ibid p 2 (footnotes omitted).
[143] Correspondence, Reference: I11/97.3, 30 January 1997.
[144] AGSP: Community Decision-Making, op cit p 6.
[146] Towards Self-Government, op cit p 24. (Clarification on this would acknowledge work carried out from 1988; see eg UN Doc E/CN 4/Sub 2/1988/25; UN Doc E/CN 4/Sub 2/1989/33; Report of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations on its Ninth Session, UN Doc E/CN 4/Sub 2/40/Rev 1, Ann IIA).
[147] UN Doc E/CN 4/Sub 2/1993.
[148] In particular, Articles 4, 7, 19, 20, 26, 31, 33, and 37.
[149] "Consideration of a Draft United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples" E/CN.4.WG.15/4: paras. 19-20.
[150] Overview Committee, op cit p 201.
[151] E/CN.4/Sub.2/24 p 11.
[152] Terry J "Self-government for Canadian first nations: recent developments" Australasian Law Teachers Association 50th Anniversary Conference, Melbourne, 1995; Cassidy F "The modern treaty process and Aboriginal governments in British Columbia", [1993] AboriginalLawB 43; (1993) 3 (64) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 10-12; Tennant P "Strong promises on paper: treaties and Aboriginal Title in Canada" in Fletcher C (ed) Aboriginal Self-Determination in Australia (Canberra, Aboriginal Studies Press 1994) pp 177-190; Macklem P "Indigenous peoples and the Canadian Constitution: lessons for Australia?", (1994) 5(1) Public Law Review 11-34.