Abbott praised for rethink on wild rivers

Aboriginal leaders in far north Queensland have praised federal Opposition Leader
Tony Abbott's decision to delay a private member's bill that would overturn the
northern state's wild rivers legislation.
Mr Abbott on Sunday said he planned to visit indigenous communities on Cape York and
the Gulf of Carpentaria before putting forward his bill.
"Before I formally introduce that bill into the parliament, I do want to have some
further conversations with people in the Gulf as well as people in Cape York," Mr
Abbott said.
Gulf indigenous community leader Murrandoo Yanner said Mr Abbott appeared to have
accepted an invitation from indigenous leaders to look again at the wild rivers
laws.
Mr Abbott could then listen to other Aboriginal leaders apart from Noel Pearson, a
vocal critic of the wild rivers laws, he said.
Mr Yanner said Mr Pearson was "leading them up a gully path" and had exerted an
"undue influence" on the debate.
"(Mr Abbott) deserves some credit for having the political courage and taking the
initiative in being one of the first leaders of a national stature to finally say:
'Enough's enough, I'm not only going to listen to Mr Pearson, but to others'," he
said.
Cape Alumina on Monday announced it would abandon a $1.2 billion bauxite mining
proposal on western Cape York, saying the Queensland government's 500-metre buffer
zone on wild rivers made the project unviable.
Mr Yanner said the Queensland government should allow another miner to take over the
bauxite deposit at Pisolite Hills after Cape Alumina said it was pulling out.
The company has said it will still complete the environmental impact statement in
the hope of a change of government or the laws.
"They should tell the company not to come back and put the resource out to tender
and see what other companies are willing to develop it and do a deal on indigenous
employment," Mr Yanner said.
Other miners could develop the bauxite deposit in a sustainable way, provide jobs
for Aboriginal workers and respect the 500m buffer zones, he said.
"The buffers are there for a reason," Mr Yanner said.
"These rivers flood and break their banks at the best of times in the wet."
The Queensland opposition and some indigenous leaders, such as Mr Pearson, argue the
laws are too strict and deny locals the opportunity to create new ecotourism and
other business in areas where jobs are scarce.
Chairman of the North Queensland Land Council, Terry O'Shane, told AAP that
Aboriginal representatives from the Cape York and Gulf region recently travelled to
Canberra to tell politicians that the position adopted by Mr Pearson was not
universal.
"We have people whose interest is governed by their desire to protect their Native
Title rights and interests, and not act subservient to the interests of miners and
governments," Mr O'Shane said.
He said that rather than pursuing a private member's bill, Mr Abbott would be better
served by supporting amendments to the Native Title Legislation to allow for the
full-blown right to negotiate.
"This will then see us engaged in the wealth generation of this country in the
resource industry, the tourism industry and the carbon trading process rather than
allow governments to lock us out of wealth generation by locking away these rights
in negative legislations," Mr O'Shane said.
Federal opposition spokesman for Northern Australia Senator Ian Macdonald said the
Queensland government had stripped away the rights of traditional owners, costing
the indigenous community of Mapoon a shot at economic independence.
"The assessment that a 500-metre exclusion zone is needed doesn't appear to have
been based on science or experience, both of which suggest a much more reasonable
300-metre exclusion zone would have protected the river system and allowed for the
bauxite project," Senator Macdonald said.
Neither Mr Pearson nor his Cape York Institute returned AAP's calls seeking comment.



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