birding-aus

Access to Aboriginal Land

To: "'Peter Marsh'" <>, "'birding-aus'" <>
Subject: Access to Aboriginal Land
From: "Tony Russell" <>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:36:40 +0930
Did anyone get a permit? I thought not.  My understanding is that some
people got permission from the wrong landholders.

Tony

-----Original Message-----
From: 
 On Behalf Of Peter Marsh
Sent: Monday, 30 August 2010 12:58 PM
To: birding-aus
Subject: Access to Aboriginal Land 

Dear Birders,
Having gone to Alice Springs looking for Princess Parrots unsuccessfully on
public land last week I took the opportunity to make an appointment to see a
senior officer of the Central Land Council to discuss the situation that had
arisen and to seek to find a way for birders to visit the Mt Winter site
while ensuring that the wishes of the traditional owners are respected
fully. This discussion is ongoing and may, or may not, result in an
arrangement that will benefit both parties - If anything comes of it you
will be informed through Birding-Aus, please don't hassle the Land Council !

I learnt a lot about the permit system for entry onto aboriginal land that I
was not previously aware of.  This information might be of interest to other
birders as it highlights how careful one has to be before entering
aboriginal land. It also throws light on some aspects of the recent
controversy about access to Mt Winter. When a permit application is made to
visit a site the land council asks its anthropology section to generate a
list of the Traditional Owners for that site. That section has a data base
of the owners of all lands under land council authority. The permit section
then contacts those owners and ascertains their attitude. This is then
conveyed to the permit applicant. It is ONLY the Traditional Owners (who may
be one person or a number of people) FOR THAT SPECIFIC SITE who can grant
you permission to visit the site. Thus the ONLY way to you can get
permission is by agreement of the correct Traditional Owners and you can
only be sure of who those people are by going through the land council. 

It is clear that from the perspective of the rightful Traditional Owners a
group of birders visited their land around Mt Winter without proper
permission . The fact that some other aboriginal people had purported to
give permission and the visitor believed that he had permission is not good
enough to avoid the unhappiness that has arisen in this case. The message is
you have to go through the land council to be sure that the right
Traditional Owners are consulted. If that had happened then it is possible
that the present unfortunate situation might not have arisen.
Regards
Peter

PS Wonder if the early birds who got a permit will let the rest of us know
how they went?
_______________________
Peter Crispin Marsh
82 Louisa Road
Birchgrove NSW 2041
+61 2 9810 4264
0414 810 426

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