Monday 17th February 1997
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Issues - The banking system under the spotlight. Mt Isa regional chairman of ATSIC, Reg Hookey, said that many people in the Gulf of Carpentaria were concerned that the deal had not been finalised and that those given the privileged position of signing the agreement should have realised that they were signing for the people not just for themselves.
"Even though it is in their hands they are signing on behalf of a lot of people," Hookey said, "locals in Doomadgee are looking at taking up a petition in support of the project."
Dereck Aplin, 33, an Aboriginal activist claimed that Murrandoo Yanner had misled people who thought that he supported the project. A brother of one of the Waanyl claimants, Aplin said that people were upset because the project could have meant jobs for a lot of the local people.
He said that the people of Doomadgee and Waanyl were trying to organise a meeting to "get Murrandoo Yanner out od the picture".
"He doesn't consult with the people. The majority of people in Doomadgee and on Mornington (Island) want the the project to go ahead," Aplin said.
"I don't support him - I used to believe in him. People are sick of it.
"I have been talking to most of my family (in Doomadgee) and they had people coming up complaining.
"People have been quiet and were depending on their leaders. I think (Yanner) has been holding out for a deal on the Carpentaria Land Council."
The failure to finalise the deal prompted calls yesterday by the Federal Resource and Energy Minister, Warwick Parer, for changes to the Native Title Act.
"This failure destroys the arguements of those who maintain the existing negotiation provisions in the Native Title Act work," he said.
"If every significant project is going to take years, as has been the case with Century, the Australian economy will grind to a halt - to the detriment of all Australians."
In fact Yanner might have done the whole country a favour by his selfish actions. The native title issue on pastoral leases has now got to be changed. Otherwise, just as Parer points out, the whole country will simply grind to a halt.
There was a most amazing story about the Bradshaw rock art on Channel Nine's Sunday program yesterday.
The academics and Universities have cut off funding to, Graham Walsh, who has done years of research and taken thousand sof photographs of the Bradshaws because he dared to suggest that the paintings were done by a people who preceded the Aboriginal race by 20,000 years. The issue has become political as the Universities feel that their funding could be threatened if they support the work of Walsh and the academics have now set out to discredit him. The archeological departments are going all out publishing academic works ridiculing or just ignoring his theory.
The threat to his story becoming credible is that it would effect the light in which native title is approached, however, some of Walsh's biggest supporters were local Aboriginal elders who said that the works were not by their people.
His only saving grace when the Universities turned off the money tap was Dame Murdoch (yes Rupert's mum) who is the trustee of a fund financing his work on the Bradshaws!
"We still have a long way to go and I'm under no illusions about hyow difficult it is," he said in Rotorua yesterday.
Howard was in New Zealand trying to find parallels between the native title issue there and here in Australia.
"On the question of shared experiences on native title issues we did, in fact, spend a lot of time talking about that," he said.
"What we have here is a portential recipe for customer confusion and decades of red ink.
"I realise there are both historic and public policy reasons for allowing it to get where we are, but given the size of Australia and the costs involved, the situation is problematic at best."
Lonard's acreer was on the rocks only three years ago after being struck down with Ross River virus - a disabling mosquito borne sickness which effects muscles and can effect eyesight.
Gumnut and Willy Willy, and Queen of Sheba took out top honours at yesterday's Doll Show in Brisbane with Queen of Sheba being selected as equal best on show.This week they will be moved to the main house and placed in glass cabinets.....
Lovely rain overnight - wet and overcast today, but no-one's complaining as the heat spell has at last been broken..
Have a great week!
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