A new book called “Coming to Terms – Aboriginal Title in South Australia”, edited by prominent lawyer Shaun Berg, has just been released. The book clearly exposes the enduring Sovereign land rights of indigenous people. “Put simply, at the beginning of 1836, Aboriginal people owned all of the land,” Mr. Berg said. “By the end of the same year they owned none of it!“
“The Letters Patent issued by King William IV in 1836 establishing the province of South Australia, made clear that the traditional landowners of this fine state were to be included in any negotiations regarding the settlement of South Australia, as it is still their land as it was in the first place”, says Independent Candidate for the Legislative Council Mark M. Aldridge
The book is a must read for the states political representatives”. “The revelations in “Coming to Terms – Aboriginal Title in South Australia” make it clear that the aforementioned Letters Patent instructed the colonists to proceed only if the land could be acquired with the consent of the indigenous population. If only the King’s orders had been followed all those years ago”, says Aldridge.. ……..
The South Australian Colonisation Act, which was passed by the British Parliament in 1834, declared the lands of the new colony to be ‘waste and unoccupied’. The Act’s clear denial of the Aborigines’ rights to land met with considerable opposition from humanitarian circles in Great Britain, including Lord Glenelg, Sir George Grey and other influential men in the Colonial Office in London.
The Colonial Office subsequently enshrined the principal of Aboriginal land rights by inserting in the Letters Patent, the document issued to the Colonisation Commissioners early in 1836 to formally establish the colony of South Australia, a clause which recognised the prior rights of the Aborigines to the land and guaranteed that ‘any lands now actually occupied or enjoyed by [the] Natives would not be alienated.’ After protracted negotiations with the Colonial Office, the Colonisation Commissioners agreed to the appointment of a Protector to safeguard the Aborigines’ interests. Among his duties, the Protector was required to ensure that any land opened up for public sale had been voluntarily ceded and fairly purchased from the Aborigines.
The Commissioners agreed to set aside 20% of the proceeds from all land sales in the colony to be used for the benefit of the Aborigines and also committed the South Australia Company to protecting ‘the natives in the unmolested exercise of their rights of property should such a right be found to exist.’
In the new colony, these commitments were soon forgotten and all the lands were declared open for public sale. A few of the more enlightened colonists saw the Aborigines’ dispossession as unjust and public debate on the issue flared occasionally in the newspapers: ………………..
Ms Isabel Dingaman, Senior Elder and elected spokesperson for the Kokatha-Maduwonga peoples and their kinship connections, historically and lawfully hold sovereign title to an immense geographical area of the [South Australian] desert region. During the 30s, 50s – 60s the Dingaman family endured the Maralinga and Emu British Atomic tests and ongoing forced removals from Roxby Downs and other areas on their land.
Ms Dingaman said today, ” It doesn’t come as a surprise that the illegalities performed and perpetuated by the British representatives have come to the surface,………………. Our grandfathers did not transfer lands to predators and at no time in recent years are we aware of any land negotiations that haven’t been coerced, uninformed or procured for use by anything but guile and cunning”.
