I have supported a motion to hold an inquiry into the Native Title Act with a view to ending it.

Australia needs to put a line under the past and move on.

The original Mabo decision was granted on the basis of continuous association with the land. Most Native Title claims today do not fit that criteria and only serve to fill the pockets of lawyers, bureaucrats and activists.

Furthermore, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination states:

“Special measures taken for the sole purpose of securing adequate advancement of certain racial or ethnic groups or individuals requiring such protection as may be necessary in order to ensure such groups or individuals equal enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms shall not be deemed racial discrimination, provided, however, that such measures do not, as a consequence, lead to the maintenance of separate rights for different racial groups and that they shall not be continued after the objectives for which they were taken have been achieved.”

Like the Voice, this means that Native Title cannot be permanent. It must eventually cease.

That is why the Native Title Act needs a sunset date.

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