Native title is still alive

The Commonwealth has also said it wants to see Aboriginal people take the initiative and explore economic opportunities. Tom Calma, the Social Justice Commissioner, has made the point that there is a terrible disconnect between government native title policy and these broader policy objectives expressed elsewhere. An obsession with legal technicality has stopped us capitalising on the opportunity that Mabo handed the country.

The Noongar decision is perhaps our last chance to get back on track. Not just with the Noongar but with the many other groups seeking a better future through native title.

One year ago the Commonwealth Government congratulated the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, the native title representative body for the Noongar people. It had named the council as a national finalist in the Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Community Business Partnerships. The reason: with business help, the council had drawn up an economic development strategy for the Noongar people.

This native title claim was at the heart of their economic development strategy. The single Noongar claim was designed to unite people and pursue not just land outcomes but broader social, political and economic development as well. That strategic approach to native title, trying to make it count in important ways for the Noongar of today and tomorrow, has been rewarded in the Federal Court decision. There are many other groups across Australia trying to do the same.

It's time, as John Howard says, to meet Aboriginal people at least halfway. In native title that means negotiation, not confrontation in the courts, respecting traditional ownership and talking terms about present needs and future aspirations.