‘Put Indigenous money to work’, says Jacinta Nampijinpa Price

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says ­Indigenous trusts across Australia that hold mining royalties must use the money to build roads and other infrastructure in the remote communities they represent.

NT senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says ­Indigenous trusts across Australia that hold mining royalties must use the money to build roads and other infrastructure in the remote communities they represent.

In a speech that broadly condemns land councils, the opposition spokeswoman for Indigenous affairs sets out a ­vision for home ownership and investment in remote communities that would begin to undo collectivism of the homelands movement of the 1970s and 80s.

Speaking to the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney on Friday, Senator Nampijinpa Price advocated town leases like the 99-year lease that has given the ­Gumatj people almost total autonomy over their community in northeast Arnhem Land. That deal – struck between the late clan leader Yunupingu and former prime minister Tony Abbott – allows the Gumatj to work for their own construction company building their own houses and maintaining town amenities.

“I have long been of the view that the native title system in Australia needs a shake up,” she said. “Not only has it had bad outcomes, the approach is also ­strangling the opportunities Indigenous communities could have to take control of their own economic destiny.”

Senator Nampijinpa Price said the current land rights system set traditional owners up to be “little more than passive land holders; given an interest in land, but lacking the necessary apparatus to maximise its economic potential”. She believes in home ownership in remote communities. This is rare, though some communities have embraced it in recent years.

Home ownership is proposed at Western Australia’s largest ­Aboriginal community, Bidyadanga, where residents want to invite private businesses in to ­create jobs.

Northern Australia Minister Madeleine King has flagged her intention to open up remote communities to home ownership through the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, which would become the investor receiving long-term payments from home owners. That proposal is considered viable in communities already linked to the mainstream economy or able to attract businesses that employ locals.

“It’s kind of funny that we know from the last two hundred years that socialist efforts to eradicate private property rights don’t just fail, they lead to all kinds of horrors we never hope to see again,” Senator Nampijinpa Price said. “And yet, we’ve been doing a version of that in Indigenous communities for decades … part of the problem here is that native title is communally held and can’t be sold or transferred. That’s ­obviously a big risk for a bank to loan because there’s no land they can guarantee the loan against in the event of default.”

She said there were land tenure solutions to this problem, including township leases. “It would not be difficult to encourage understanding and accessibility of these kinds of arrangements to Indigenous people,” she said.

She said that because there was no real mechanism for using royalties from mining and native title payments for building infrastructure on these lands, communities currently had no choice but to rely on government initiatives to build roads and housing.

“Of course, like everywhere else in Australia, the government has a role, but there’s no reason money generated from native title can’t be invested back into projects that promote economic development,” she said.

Senator Nampijinpa Price said that despite a large capital base “these trusts make minimal ­returns and don’t really end up helping people in the practical ways they need”.

“They’re simply not generating enough wealth to help people with housing or starting businesses,” she said. “If these trusts can be unleashed on the market, there is a huge opportunity to get much better returns. It will be riskier, sure, but … we’re about treating Indigenous Australians as people who are capable, not victims who need a handout.”