Fed: WA s Court slams Labor native title deal

AAP General News (Australia)
08-31-2000
Fed: WA s Court slams Labor native title deal

CANBERRA, Aug 31 AAP - Western Australian Premier Richard Court today warned Labor
and the Australian Democrats he would reject any attempts to include a right to negotiate
in WA's native title laws.

Mr Court will discuss his proposed regime with Prime Minister John Howard today, after
yesterday's compromise on Queensland's laws resulted in the resignation of Labor Aboriginal
Affairs spokesman Daryl Melham.

Mr Melham quit the frontbench in protest after the opposition approved a deal with
the Queensland Labor government which would weaken Aboriginal people's right to negotiate
on so-called low-impact mining projects.

The opposition and the Democrats rejected part of Queensland's original plan removing
the right for Aborigines to negotiate on land subject to high-impact mining projects.

But Liberal premier, Mr Court said WA would resist any attempts in the Senate to amend
its laws to include a right to negotiate.

He said the right to negotiate regime did not work in practice and said Labor had got
itself backed into an ideological corner.

"They want to go back to uncertainty and total confusion," he told the ABC.

"They are just playing politics, to do a little quaint little deal with their political
friends in Queensland and ignore what the majority of the people of Western Australia
want is just totally unacceptable to us," said Mr Court.

AAP kmh/arb

KEYWORD: TITLE COURT

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