When history meets the new native title era at the negotiating table: a case study in reconciling land use in Broome, Western Australia

Abstract

This paper argues there are inherent problems for Aboriginal people engaging in the mediation processes established by the Native Title Act. The assertion of Native Title, and the National Native Title Tribunal’s attempt to accommodate Aboriginal people’s social, economic and cultural aspirations in decisions affecting their land and resources, exposes the fundamental power imbalances within the Australian community. Strongly remembered historical experiences are integral to this imbalance and are relevant to the positions Aboriginal people take today; they inform their assessment of their capacity to influence today’s decisions and to negotiate as equals. As Aboriginal communities respond to the new processes under the Native Title Act, they will be challenged to formulate perspectives on the future use of land (and/or sea) held under Native Title, and to actively participate in debates about their community’s role in future decisions over land use, economic opportunities, sustainable development and race relations in the region. This has been the experience of the Broome Aboriginal community. Aboriginal organisations seeking ways of providing their communities with strategies for greater control will require sufficient resources and time in which to formulate preferred community development paths. Unless the current structural problems and resource inadequacies facing Native Title holders are addressed the mediation process runs the risk of entrenching the current land use development paradigm and foreclosing alternative structures and processes which would accommodate Aboriginal aspirations. The ability of the Tribunal process to convey understanding of Aboriginal society and to reconcile differing rights and interests in land/sea ownership, use and management in Broome, exposes the kinds of problems that will be encountered as the larger Australian community tries to embrace the goal of reconciliation. Broome’s recent experience provides evidence of the difficulties of translating and implementing that national goal at the local community scale. v