Despite many difficulties, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Land Council is hopeful that, within five years, Aboriginal communities in the state will begin to win land rights. The council also has many other plans. Kaylene Allan reports, in the second of two articles from Hobart.
TALC chairperson Steve Stanton says funding is one of the biggest problems facing Aboriginal communities in their fight for land rights heritage protection. "Under-resourcing makes it very difficult to ensure that all sites get the attention that they are due. Hence we are working on a policy level and where possible encouraging departments [state authorities] to do the work." According to Stanton, site desecration, such as on the north-west coast, by natural and human factors further highlights the critical need for appropriate legislation.
For example, important Aboriginal art sites in the north-west are threatened by cattle grazing, uncontrolled fires started by recreational fishermen, off-road vehicles, unrestricted access by surfers and erosion. "Sensitive sandstone engraving sites are collapsing, falling into the sand and eroding away", says Stanton.
He believes, however, that despite the political situation, within five years the Tasmanian Aboriginal community will have areas of land returned. "Our approach at the Land Council is to demonstrate an attitude to the land — that we can manage the land and show the benefits of our work. It is through this understanding that we gain respect from community groups. We have made it clear we don't want sites back simply to close them off and deny access to the wider community.
"There are sites, of course, which will remain with limited access as they are sensitive, some to various processes of erosion or other natural factors, others to human contact. There are sites which may be very special for other reasons that we would keep for the Aboriginal community. But the majority of sites, and certainly numbering in the thousands, we would be happy to share on a controlled basis, that is to show people how to appreciate the sites without causing damage."
Oyster Cove, 33 km south of Hobart, is of special spiritual significance to the Aboriginal community and today is an excellent example of self-determination and land management in spite of government intransigence. In 1847, 47 Aboriginal people who survived the concentration camp of Wybalena were moved there; subsequently at least 40 of them died from disease.
Since 1984, the Aboriginal community has occupied and administered Oyster Cove in order to protect and honour these people. "Oyster Cove is a good example of our management of land", says Stanton. "In 1984 we started clearing that area. It was totally disregarded by Parks, Wildlife and Heritage at the time. We cleared that area up, and now conduct educational seminars and take school groups down there." the annual Oyster Cove festival, which provides an opportunity for the wider community to share Aboriginal culture and learn about the history of the Aboriginal people.
Rocky Cape, another site on the north-west coast, was occupied by the Aboriginal community a year ago. "The takeover of Rocky Cape is another good example", says Stanton. "It combined political strategy in taking back the land with an opportunity for the Land Council to demonstrate our land management role. We have had a major role in development of the camping site and a new road to provide all-weather access to the site.
"We conduct cultural tours of the Aboriginal sites and caves and carry out traditional activities, such as shellfish collecting, story-telling around the fire with local and interstate people, and we also run education seminars."
The strategy of the Land Council is working, he says. This is indicated by the fact that individual landowners, some with fairly large holdings, have approached TALC willing to look at joint management of the Aboriginal sites on their properties. "This is something that would never have happened 5-10 years ago, because they would have had misconceptions about what would have happened to the land if they had declared the presence of Aboriginal sites.
"People are starting to become appreciative of Aboriginal sites, land management and land rights in general. It is a very slow process, and there are still a lot of misconceptions. I believe that in another five years of creating programs like ours we will see a major change in the way people are thinking."
Enterprise development in combination with land management is another important aspect of the Land Council's work. In future, TALC plans to combine enterprise activity with land management so as to also provide the Land Council with an administrative base for rent, office costs etc.
"Enterprise development is seen by the Aboriginal community as a means for future self-sufficiency, and to establish an economic base to run our own programs, determine our own future and try over time to alleviate the social problems that Aboriginal people face.
" We are currently involved in an enterprise activity on the north-west coast, which involves the purchase of retail shopping space."
TALC has also been approached to carry out enterprise development in tourism, and in October the Aboriginal community will commence monthly 10-day tours for overseas tourists around Aboriginal sites. "There have been a number of white people that have been taking tour groups to Aboriginal sites for years, for example, on the Franklin River and north-west coast, but it's time that we started to have input. Our overall aim is ultimately to have control", Stanton says. Funding for TALC is currently threatened, as the state Liberal government is not providing funds. Most current employees of the Land Council are employed under short-term training funds from the federal Department of Education, Employment and Training. One position is funded for 12 months by Australian National Parks.
Prior to the state election earlier this year, the Labor government allocated $38,000 to the Land Council for recurring costs. $15,000 was released prior to the election, but the Liberal Government has refused to fulfil the funding obligations and release the remaining $23,000.
While there have been difficulties in accessing ATSIC funding, Steve is hopeful "that by providing the ATSIC Regional Council with an overview of the TALC programs and the importance of these programs to the Aboriginal community funding of our recurrent costs will be forthcoming from the ATSIC".
In May, the Aboriginal community occupied Risdon Cove, a site 12 km from Hobart, to pressure the Liberal government on land rights. In spite of hardships imposed by government policies, they maintained a presence for several weeks before deciding to withdraw. The government said it would not meet with the Aboriginal community while the site was occupied. However, it is still refusing to meet with the community.