ALC 15 year strategic plan 2012-2027
Anindilyakwa Land Council
Anindilyakwa Land Council annual report; Anindilyakwa Land Council strategic plan; Reports; PublicationNT
2012
Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).
English
Anindilyakwa Land Council (N.T.) -- Periodicals; Aboriginal Australians -- Northern Territory -- Groote Eylandt -- Periodicals
Anindilyakwa Land Council
Alyangula
2012-2027
Anindilyakwa Land Council
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/254602
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/529654
ALC 15 year Strategic Plan 5. Goal A: Protect the Land and Sea 35 Groote Eylandt. Without this security it is unclear how long the company will retain its current tenure on Groote Eylandt. The lease area in question comes under the Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act 1976 and ownership of the lease area is granted under the NT Mining Title Act. Access is granted by consent simultaneous by both NT Minster and Traditional Owners of the affected lands prior to any activity occurring in this area. Traditional owner consent is usually in the form of Exploration and Mining Agreements and future exploration and mining then continues within the provisions of the agreement. To date, the Traditional Owners have resisted applications from BHP Billiton to access this area for exploration purposes. With the rejection of GEMCOs request for an Exploration Licence in 2009, the lease area automatically went into moratorium for five years, ending in January 2013. During the moratorium period, the mining company is not permitted to raise the topic or discuss issues relating to acquiring this area for exploration or mining with the Traditional Owners of the area. At the conclusion of each five-year term, the company can request consent from the Australian Government and the Land Council to negotiate with the Traditional Owners to explore in the area. Under Section 46 of the ALRA, if the Traditional Owners of an area and the NT Minister for Mining agree to allow a company to explore for minerals in an area and the company is successful in finding minerals and wishes to proceed to mining in the same area there is very little the Traditional Owners can do to prevent active mining. The Land Council and Traditional Owners are then not asked to provide consent for the mining phase, only the appropriate Minister. The Southern region of Groote Eylandt contains significant cultural importance to several clans including ceremonial grounds and burial sites. Unfortunately the anthropology and archaeology of this area is poorly defined as yet, and much work needs to be completed in both fields prior to any serious consideration of disturbance of any type in this region. While the approaches by mining companies can be put aside through the moratorium process for five-year periods, it remains critical for anthropological and archaeological studies to be conducted in this region in near future. Anthropological, archaeological and flora and fauna studies would provide a depth of information about the cultural, historical and biological characteristics of the land to enable Traditional Owners to make informative decisions about whether the land is suitable for mining or must be preserved for particular reasons. With the completion of mining on the main leases near Angurugu and potentially in the Eastern Leases, the critical decisions to allow access to new areas will no doubt bring all parties to the table in the future. There are two forms of mining agreement that can be developed as a result of consent being provided for exploration by the Traditional Owners, the Land Council and Minister.