In Tasmania, the 1995 introuction of the Aboriginal Land Act provided for the establishment of an elected Aboriginal Land Council to own and manage lands of historical and cultural significance, the greatest gesture of reconciliation in law since colonial settlement.

Since then, the process of returning land of special significance to the traditional owners has been a gradual one.

Currently 55,606 hectares of land has been returned to the Aboriginal community, comprising 16 separate areas.

Ten parcels of land were returned in 1995, and since then Parliament has twice approved the transfer of further lands, in 1999 and 2005.

In 2012, the former state government successfully moved to amend the Tasmanian Aboriginal Land Act(1995) to include the areas of Rebecca Creek, on Tasmania’s West Coast, andlarapuna*, on the East Coast.

The amendment to the legislation has since stalled in Tasmania’s upper house, the Legislative Council…………

Significance

The two sites earmarked for return are on opposite sides of the state.

Rebecca Creek, several kilometres inland from Temma on the West Coast, is the richest Aboriginal stone working area known in Tasmania.

It is a source of spongolite which was used for the production of stone tools, and archaeological evidence shows it was traded by Aboriginals further than any other raw material in Tasmania.

larapuna is located in Tasmania’s North East near Ansons Bay, and now houses the Eddystone Point Lighthouse and lighthouse keeper cottages.

The area was a rich hunting ground for fish, kangaroo and seals while the broader area contains middens, artefact sites and burial grounds.

While there is no part of Tasmania, apart from some outer lying islands, that Tasmanian Aboriginals did not regularly inhabit, the return of especially sensitive lands by successive governments is a recognition the cultural significance of land to the Aboriginal community, and an important step in the process of reconciliation.

The most recent land that has been acquired on behalf of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community was made possible through a combined purchase, rather than a transfer from the state.

Gowan Brae

Gowan Brae, a property of more than 6,000 hectares in the Central Highlands, was collaboratively purchased by Aboriginal groups, the Tasmanian Land Conservancy and the Australian Government.

It is the largest parcel of land acquired for Aboriginal people on mainland Tasmania, and contains quarry sites, evidence of long term habitation, and provides an opportunity for Tasmania’s Aboriginal community to reconnect with culturally and environmentally important land.

The Chairman of the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania Clyde Mansell described the purchase as a milestone for reconciliation in Tasmania.

The unique collaboration for the purchase means the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania is now the freehold owner of the land, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre is the reserve manager and the Tasmanian Land Conservancy will provide ongoing support and assistance to manage the property for its conservation values.

The long legislative road

While the Legislative Council Sessional Committee concluded its public hearings into the amendments late last year, a change in government has halted the process. The Liberal party in opposition supported the amendment’s passage back in 2012, but new legislation will have to be presented before the Legislative Council can again consider it.

Any change to the amendments could mean the process of consultation may have to be taken all over again, with still no guarantee that it will pass in the final vote in the upper house.

Premier Will Hodgman has reiterated his government’s support for the legislation that will complete the handing over of the two land returns………..http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014/05/28/4014001.htm?site=hobart