www.flickr.com

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Fair Go for Aboriginal Communities?




Fifteen years after the Australian High Court's historic Mabo decision, an explosion of land-use agreements between Aborigines, mining companies and governments has failed to deliver significant outcomes for many of the indigenous people who signed them.

A five-year detailed examination of 45 contracts by Griffith University academic Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh has found that half the agreements were either "basket cases that should never have been entered into" or had delivered few cultural and monetary benefits to Aborigines.

Many agreements were poorly constructed deals that deprived Aborigines of a share in the unprecedented opportunity flowing from the resources boom.

Australia's wealthiest mining regions had the worst record and in many cases indigenous people were trading off rights to protect culturally important areas for limited, short-term benefits.

1 comment:

Les Q said...

I have never heard of any mining companies started and run by aboriginies....apart from a few emu farms and federally funded projects that usually end in disaster basically the aboriginal race has done Bugger all with the land.
Well apart from the northern territory where they have acheived much....
They only want to sit under a tree in the shade and hold out their hands....and complain.