It is scant consolation to Aboriginal people to know that industry will stop denying us our rights, after they have extracted billions of dollars worth of resources from our land without even asking for our consent, never mind offering equitable compensation. They have poisoned vast tracts of our traditional land. They have divided our communities in two. They have impoverished our people. To Aboriginal people, reconciliation means being able to run industries of our own.
Reconciliation means being able to exercise our rights to our traditional lands and resources.
Just as the non-Indigenous community is able to exercise its rights over its land and resources. We want to have our say in how our traditional lands and resources are developed. Just as the non-Indigenous community has its say in how its resources are developed. And we want our share of the benefits of such development. The two rights to negotiate guaranteed by the Native Title Act provide us with a legal mechanism by which we can do so.