30th Nov 2021, 6:50 PM – Senate Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment (Economic Empowerment) Bill 2021 - in Committee - Schedule 2

The majority voted in favour of a motion "that schedule 2 stand as printed," which means that the schedule will remain unchanged. This vote occurred after Victorian Senator Lidia Thorpe (Greens) proposed an amendment to oppose that schedule.

What is Schedule 2?

According to the bill digest:

Schedule 2 implements several amendments recommended by the Aboriginal Land Commissioner’s 2013 Review of Part IV of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 concerning mining activity under the Act [i.e. the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976]. These amendments update the Act to reflect Northern Territory legislation and developments in mining (for example, concerning geothermal energy), clarify and change aspects of the approval process (including meeting requirements with Traditional Owners), clarify the process for dealing with relatively low impact mining for ‘extractive minerals’ (clay, gravel, sand, et cetera), and change parts of the ministerial approval process by removing delegation of some Commonwealth ministerial approvals from the Northern Territory mining minister and removing the requirement for Commonwealth ministerial approval for some mining projects.

What is this bill about?

According to the bills digest, the bill's purpose "is to amend the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (the Act) in four areas, covered by four Schedules:

• Schedule 1 will establish the Northern Territory Aboriginal Investment Corporation (NTAIC) as a new Aboriginal-controlled corporate Commonwealth entity to strategically invest in Aboriginal businesses and commercial projects and make other payments to or for the benefit of Aboriginal peoples in the NT
• Schedule 2 will amend the exploration and mining provisions of the Act in order to clarify and streamline a number of approval processes
• Schedule 3 will amend and clarify land administration provisions, including on township leases, access to Aboriginal land, land under escrow and other matters
• Schedule 4 will align payments from the Aboriginals Benefit Account (ABA) with the Commonwealth’s financial framework and the timing of mineral royalties payments from the Northern Territory (NT)."