Page 3469 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 11 October 1994
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SURROGACY AGREEMENTS
Discussion Paper
Debate resumed from 16 December 1993, on motion by Mr Connolly:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
NATIVE TITLE BILL 1994
Debate resumed from 21 April 1994, on motion by Ms Follett:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
MR KAINE (10.40): Madam Speaker, I think it is appropriate to note that this legislation is no ordinary legislation. The preamble to the Bill, in itself, is different from the ordinary run of legislation that comes before this place. You will know that I have been associated with this body and its precedent bodies for 20 years now, and Greg Cornwell goes back the same period of time. Others go back 10 or 12 years. I believe that none of us, in all of that time, have seen a piece of legislation that has a preamble to it. The explanation for that is given in the explanatory memorandum. In order to have such a preamble it is customary that the legislation shall be historically significant. Of course, this legislation is historically significant, and I think that in passing it we should note that there remain many uncertainties about the future ramifications of this legislation. It cannot be said that we know what all of the ramifications way into the future might be.
For example, again referring to the explanatory memorandum, even in connection with the Australian Capital Territory, it is noted that "not all Crown uses extinguish native title, for example, the declaration and use of an area as a national park would not necessarily extinguish it". A considerable part of the ACT is national park and I believe that the words "not necessarily" leave it open to question. Even, in other respects, in what is now the Namadgi National Park, that part of the park which is the Cotter River catchment may have some question marks about whether native title still remains. So, I think that within the ACT there are questions that will be answered only when people who claim to be indigenous people associated with this region eventually make a claim and have that claim heard; and we do not know yet who is likely to make such a claim or to what those claims might relate.
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