PM. No. 87/ 1972
RELEASE OF LXND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIVING AND
OTHER AREAS FOR RESIDENT ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES IN_
THE NORTHERN TERRITORY
Statement by the Prime Minister, the Rt. R~ on. William
McMahon, CH, MP. 12 OCTOBER 1972
Following discussions I have had today with Lord
Vestey, the Government has accepted with pleasure the offer by
Lord Vestey to give some 35 square miles of land ( about 22,400 acres)
from the Vestey lease of Wave Hill Station in the Northern
Territory. The offer by Lord Vestey has been taken up in the
context of the Government's acceptance of the recommendations of the
Gibb Committee that a policy be adopted to enable community living
areas for aborigines to be established on land in pastoral properties
and under the control of the aborigines themselves.
In accordance with this policy, the area of Crown land
on which the Government welfare centre at Wave Mill is located will
be extended to include land at Wattie Creek which has been the site
of a camnping area for aborigines for some time.
The offer by Lord Vestey includes an area of 1lC square
miles near Wattie Creek which the Gurindji People have asked be
leased to them for use in a cattle mustering project. Government
of ficials will be discussing with the people at Wattie Creek in
the near future their proposal for a lease and the sort of
financial assistance they would need to enable the best use to be
made of the land.
The land to be released by Lord Vestey will enable the
site at Wattie Creek to be further develoned with Government
assistance and made available for le2asing to the local community. / 2
The area-includes the site of-ths-new-bores which
will provide additional supplies of water to Wattie Creek End
the Wave Hill centre. Mater is now being piped to Wattie Creek
from these bores and this has overcome the water supply problem
experienced there in recent months.
I am pleased to be able to say that a number of
other pastoralists in the Northern Territory have also agreed
in principle to the release of land for the development of
living areas for resident aboriginal communities. These
pastoralists have responded to the Government's announcement
of the acceptance of the Gibb Committee recommendations.
Further discussions about implementing recommendations
of the Gibb Committee report will be undertaken at a meeting
of the Northern Territory Pastoral Lessees Association at
Kitherine next month.
CANBERRA, 12 October 1972 I