Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword by Michael Dodson
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- The Aboriginal World View
- Aborigines and the Land
- 2 The future of the homeland movement
- 3 Warlpiri land use and management
- 4 The implications of land rights
- Aboriginal Lifestyles
- Aborigines, Resources and Development
- Aborigines, Law and the State
- Asserting Autonomy: Recent Aboriginal Initiatives
- The Recognition of Native Title
- Conclusion
- Appendix: The Eva Valley Statement
- References
- Select Bibliography of work by H.C. Coombs
- Index
4 - The implications of land rights
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 May 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword by Michael Dodson
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- The Aboriginal World View
- Aborigines and the Land
- 2 The future of the homeland movement
- 3 Warlpiri land use and management
- 4 The implications of land rights
- Aboriginal Lifestyles
- Aborigines, Resources and Development
- Aborigines, Law and the State
- Asserting Autonomy: Recent Aboriginal Initiatives
- The Recognition of Native Title
- Conclusion
- Appendix: The Eva Valley Statement
- References
- Select Bibliography of work by H.C. Coombs
- Index
Summary
Originally published as ‘Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies Working Paper No. 9’, CRES, Australian National University, Canberra, 1978.
THE LAND RIGHTS MOVEMENT
The land rights movement basically expresses the desire of Aborigines to acquire title to, and control of, land which they regard as theirs by traditional right and with which they identify in a complex and spiritually charged manner. By logical extension it comprehends their desire, when links with their ancestral lands have been broken or cannot be demonstrated, to gain title to other land for their own economic and social purposes. Accordingly, it also includes calls to be compensated for the loss of land which was taken from their ancestors by force and without treaty or compensation, and for the destruction of the way of life which had sustained those ancestors for more than 40,000 years.
It is a movement being expressed in political action not merely by Aborigines, but by influential elements in white Australian society. It had initial success during the period of the Whitlam Government when legislation based on the report of the Woodward Commission (1973, 1974) was introduced, but did not become law before that government was replaced. The incoming Fraser Government, however, legislated on substantially similar lines. Since then, the movement has encountered increasing resistance.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Aboriginal AutonomyIssues and Strategies, pp. 39 - 52Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1994