PRIME
24 December 1996 TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON JOHN HOWARD MIP
DOORSTOP PHILLIP STREET
SYDNEY
E& OE
Ladies and gentlemen the decision of the High Court in the Wik case is disappointing.
It has not resolved outstanding ambiguities concerning pastoral leases. I will seek
urgent discussions with the State Premiers and Chief Ministers and also representatives
of other interests, the Aboriginal community, miners and pastoralists.
It seems to the Government on a preliminary reading of the majority judgement that it
has overturned certain assumptions on which our response to the native title issue had
been based and certainly on which the approach of the Keating Government had been
based. People will be aware that the preamble to the Native Title Act states that the
grant of a pastoral lease extinguishes native title. The belief then being, and certainly
the belief entertained by my Government, that it so extinguish native title because it
created a right of exclusive possession. Now, those beliefs and assumptions have been
changed by the decision, indeed overturned, by the new decision of the High Court and
as a result I've sought urgent further legal advice from the Attorney-General and that
is underway. It has created a new ball game and we need all of us to reflect very
carefu~ lly as to the consequences of the decision and to recognise that there will need to
be understanding and goodwill from all of the people involved so that the remaining
significant ambiguities and problems can be intelligently addressed. They do need to
be addressed. I don't think anybody greets with any enthusiasm the possibility of
endless years of protracted and complicated litigation which is one of the scenarios that
some of the people responding to the decision believe might occur. And all of us have
a responsibility to ensure that that scenario is not realised.
JOURNALIST: Will there be a Premniers' conference next month then to look at the issue?
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PRIME NMISTER:
I'll talk to the Premiers. The question of how we take it beyond that is premature for
me to talk about. I will certainly talk to all of the Premiers who are interested in this
matter. I've had correspondence from some of them already. I understand their
concern. They have very legitimate concerns, This is a difficult issue for the entire
community and we have to handle it in a way that's fair to all parties. And it's not a
question of takcing sides, it's a question of getting a sensible resolution. But people
have got to understand that we'd all operated on the belief; or in the belief, on the
assumption that pastoral leases did extinguish native title. And the former government
certainly represented to the pastoralists of Australia that that was the case. The
Keating Government told the pastoralists time without number that they didn't have to
worry. Now we find indeed that there is real doubt and ambiguity and the only way in
which, according to the decision of the High Court, the status of individual pastoral
leases can be resolved is not according to some general rule or principle, but on a case
by case basis. Now, that only has to be said for people to realise that that could take
years and years and years. And I can't think of anything worse to the future
investment and development prospects of this country than to have endless years of
litigation regarding the status of pastoral leases and the entitlements of the Aboriginal
community as well as the entitlements of the mining industry and the pastoral industry.
Those three sections of the Australian community have a joint interest in an intelligent
response to this decision.
JOURNALIST: Could new federal legislation be the key to solving this dilemma?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm not going to, at this stage, pre-empt what the Government will do. I'm stating the
reality and that is that we do have a new ball game as a result of this decision. I'm
seeking fuirther advice. I'm responding to a preliminary reading of the judgement. I'll
talk to the Premiers. I'll talk to the Aboriginal community. I'll talk to the miners and
the pastoralists. They all have an interest, a legitimate interest. I want to hear them all
and I want to respond in a fair fashion. But the ball game has changed because of this
decision and the community should understand that. And it may be necessary to have
responses that are different from what were previously posed, but it is far too early for
me to indicate what those different responses may be.
JOURNALIST: IN& H oward, the Native Title Tribunal suggested that this now opens the way for more
meaningful negotiations between the parties. Are you suggesting that that's not the
way to go, that there should be some clearer legislation instead of negotiations as has
been suggested? 2
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PRIME MNISTER:
I'm suggesting that we have a new situation, we have a new ball game and that there
has to be a response developed to the decision of the High Court. I'm not going to
comment on what Mr Justice French said. He is not of course speaking with any
authority other than his position as chairman of the Tribunal. His view on the matter
does not necessarily carry any more or less weight than anybody else's.
JOURNALIST: There's no secret that there will be some dissension between the judges, but were you
surprised with the way it went?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh look, for time in memorial courts have divided, there's nothing new about it. Let's
understand something about the role of the Court in our system. It is the role of the
Hgh Court of Australia to interpret and declare the law as it is at the time of a
particular case brought before it. It is the role of the Parliament of Australia to
legislate and to make the law. I'm not going to comment in any kind of peijorative
way on the decision of the High Court. I, like everybody else, am bound by a decision
of the High Court. And let me make it clear, you won't have any undermining of the
role of the H1igh Court in the Government of this country by me or by any members of
my Government. But I must also point out that it is the role of the Parliament if it
thinks fit to change the law. And I noticed an implication in a comment made by the
Opposition spokesman on Aboriginal Affairs that in some way the High Court's
determination should be regarded as the last word on the matter. Now, the High
Court's determination is the last word on the interpretation of the law as it now stands.
But it's never been part of our system that the High Court makes the law, it's our
system that Parliament makes the law and the High Court declares and interprets it.
JOURNALIST: The CRA mining company says that the High Court decision is unlikely to have any
impact on their projects. Doesn't that suggest that negotiated agreements are in fact
the way to go? ( iaudible)-
PRIE MISTER:
I don't think you can read a general situation into the reaction of a particular company
to that company's particular circumstances. Of course negotiation between parties is
always preferable to litigation and that applies whether you're dealing with Aborigines
and pastoralists or you're dealing with ordinary litigates. I mean, litigation is
murderously expensive in this country. It delays things, it causes investors to lose
interest. And I would always address a request to people to negotiate. The Century
Zinc project has been the subject of protracted negotiation involving both my
Government and the Queensland Government and I would like to see a negotiated
settlement to that particular matter. Negotiation is always better than litigation.
Litigation is rarely something that leaves people other than impoverished. And 3
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although I am ' very proud of the fact that I'm still a solicitor of the Supreme Court of
New South Wales, I don't want the winners out of native title to be the lawyers, I want
the winners out of native title to be jointly the Aboriginal community, the pastoralists
and the miners and the community generally of Australia. And we have to as a
community, at a government and a non-government level, find a way around the
ambiguities. But let's not kid ourselves. This decision has altered the ball game quite
dramatically and has undercut certain assumptions, certainly on which our pre-election
policy was based and certainly has undercut the assumptions of the former
government. I mean, Mr Keating repeatedly assured the pastoralists of Australia that
the grant of a pastoral lease extinguished native title because it gave a right of
exclusive possession. Well, the High Court has now said, and I accepted it's a
declaration of the law as it now stands, that that is not the case.
JOURNALJIST: Mr Howard, perhaps you'd like to share with us your Christmas message, your first
one as Prime Minister?
PRIME MMNSTER:
Well, I would very much like to do that. I'd like, on behalf of my wife and my
children, to wish all Australians a merry Christmas. I hope it's, for all Australians, a
safe Christmas. People should drive very carefully. I know it may sound trite, but it's
not meant to be. Don't celebrate and drive at the same time. It really is a very unwise
thing for people to do because I don't want the family and personal enjoyment of
Christmas to be blinded for any Australians by tragedies on the road or elsewhere.
Christmas is for most Australians a time of comfort and enjoyment and celebration.
But for some of our fellow Australians it is a time of difficulty and sadness. And I
would like all of those who can afford to do so to dig into their pockets and give
generously to those tremendous organisations like the Salvation Army and the St
Vincent De Paul Society who look after the less privileged people. And the other
thing that I think we ought to do at a time like this is to remember the tremendous
assets that we have as a nation; our tolerance and our decency towards each other and
the fact that we have an enviable reputation around the world for being a very free and
open and welcoming people. And of course finally and certainly not least importantly,
Christmas is a time for many millions of Australians of spiritual renewal because the
Christmas story is the source of a lot of the spiritual strength to many millions of
Australians. JOURNALIST: Mr Howard, what's Santa bringing you for Christmas?
PRIE AMISTER:
Well, I'm very, very happy to spend it with my family and some friends. And I hope
that all Australians who wish to do likewise can have an equally enjoyable time.
Thank you. 4
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