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June 6th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Indigenous groups have described proposed changes to native title laws as tinkering at the edges, warning that their elders will continue to die before some claims are settled.
Federal Attorney-General Nicola Roxon unveiled the changes at a conference in Townsville on Wednesday.
Under the changes, indigenous land use agreements will become more flexible and less technical, and lands covered by native title will no longer be subject to income tax and capital gains tax.
Ms Roxon pledged to legislate the terms of the “good-faith negotiation” now required under the Act.
Parties negotiating native title could opt to ignore historical extinguishment of rights under proposed changes.
But the federal government has shied away from acting on calls from indigenous groups to reverse the onus of proof in native title claims.
Ms Roxon said it was unlikely parliament would support that change. Instead the government was focused on incremental but significant changes.
It was a “sad truth” that many claims were taking 40 years to settle and many elders died before there was an outcome.
“There isn’t in native title a magic wand that would allow us to instantly make a determination tomorrow so that every person alive today can get recognition,” Ms Roxon said.
The National Native Title Council says the changes do not go far enough.
“We can no longer tolerate our old people dying while successive governments simply tinker around the edges,” chief executive Brian Wyatt said.
Shifting the burden of proof from native title claimants would help alleviate the financial and psychological hardship for traditional owners.
“The current system places an unjust burden on native title applicants in proving their continued connection to land,” Mr Wyatt said.
There are still 442 registered claims in the system.
The National Congress of Australia’s First People said for each claim it cost indigenous groups an estimated $1 million to prove their continuing connection to the land.
“That takes a long time, a lot of money,” spokesman Les Malezer said.
If the onus of proof was reversed it would be a much quicker and cheaper process.
The National Farmers Federation reacted with caution to the announcement, saying it was seeking guarantees from government that the setting aside of historical extinguishment did not extend to pastoral leases.
The Minerals Council of Australia praised the changes but said defining good-faith negotiations should be about quality not about prescribing timeframes.
Ms Roxon will hold talks with parliament’s cross bench and believes there is sufficient support for the measures to clear both houses.
Australian Greens Leader Christine Milne said the government had missed an opportunity.
“We can’t allow another 20 years to pass before this is addressed,” she told reporters in Hobart.
Comment was being sought from the opposition.
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