Aboriginal Councils Fight Land Rights Act Change

0:00Aboriginal land councils in New South Wales are pushing back hard against the proposed change to the 1983 Aboriginal Land Rights Act. The bill would stop them from claiming Crown Land that's under lease, even if it's sitting unused. Council say this guts their ability to return ancestral lands to communities. Right now, the law lets them claim state-owned land not actively in use, backed by recent high-court winds like the Paddington and Waverton bowling, club sites. Those ruling said leases don't count if the land isn't really being used. But the government wants to close that door to avoid what they call edge cases. Land council leaders held an emergency meeting and rallied at Parliament this week, calling it an attack on their rights. Workers like Denise Hampton, whose building ranger programs on return land, worry it'll stall everything from jobs to cultural access. Over 42,000 claims are still pending, some for decades. The lands minister says the systems broken, pointing to spots like tennis courts and a marina where technical lease issues made active sites, claimable.

1:05He claims they consulted stakeholders last year and will talk more before the upper-house debate. As the petition gains steam and protests grow, land councils hope to force a rethink, keeping the fight alive for future generations and community benefits. I'm Corey with The Story and you've been listening to Adelaide News today, AI-powered local news.