The New Territory: Commonwealth Control or Council Administration

On October 26, 2009 Lex Hall wrote in The Australian newspaper:

Further reading from The Australian newspaper

Other articles from The Australian newspaper are linked below. They help to build the recent history leading to to my belief that the bureaucracy and the public service need overhauling.
‘Speaking truth to a machine’, by Natasha Robinson, The Australian newspaper, August 08, 2009
‘Plan to recast northern politics’, by Nicolas Rothwell, The Australian newspaper, December 6, 2008
‘Giving it back: a revolution in the bush’, by Nicolas Rothwell, The Australian newspaper, October 31, 2009
‘The failed state’, by Nicolas Rothwell, The Australian newspaper, October 24, 2009

Can we learn from other nations?

I intend travelling to Nunavut in August, 2010 to investigate the possibility of such a model being introduced into Australia’s Northern Territory.

Perhaps it might look similar to the model created early last century when the jurisdictions of Central Australia and Northern Australia existed.

Perhaps Darwin/Palmerston could become a satellite city (similar to Singapore in Malaysia) with Alice Springs and Katerine becoming regional administration centres working with the newly created shires.

May the discussions continue.

The following information about the territory of Nunavut comes from  www.polarnet.ca/polarnet/nunavut.htm.

The territory of Nunavut (which means “our land“) stretches some 1.9 million square kilometres and is nearly one-fifth the size of Canada.

The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement is the largest Aboriginal land claim settlement in Canadian history. When the Agreement was signed, legislation was also passed leading to the creation of a new territory called Nunavut on April 1, 1999. The new territory will have a public government serving both Inuit and non-Inuit.

Though the creation of the territory of Nunavut is a new chapter in Canada’s confederation, the story of Nunavut and the Inuit who make their lives there is an ancient one, going back over thousands of years.

The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement gives title to Inuit-owned lands measuring about 350,000 square kilometres (of the total area of Nunavut of 1.9 million square kilometres), of which about 35,000 square kilometres include mineral rights.

Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI) was set up as a private corporation in 1993 to ensure that promises made in the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement are carried out. The operations of NTI are managed through offices in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, Cambridge Bay and Ottawa.

Features of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement:

Some to the more outstanding of its 41 articles include the following:

• Title to approximately 350,000 square kilometres of land, of which about 35,000 square kilometres include mineral rights,
• Equal representation of Inuit with government on a new set of wildlife management, resource management and environmental boards,
• The right to harvest wildlife on lands and waters throughout the Nunavut settlement area,
• Capital transfer payments of $1.148 billion, payable to the Inuit over 14 years, A $13 million Training Trust Fund,
• A share of federal government royalties for Nunavut Inuit from oil, gas and mineral development on Crown lands,
• Where Inuit own surface title to the land, the right to negotiate with industry for economic and social benefits with non-renewable resource development,
• The right of first refusal on sport and commercial development of renewable resources in the Nunavut Settlement Area,
• The creation of three federally funded national parks,
• The inclusion of a political accord that provides for the establishment of the new Territory of Nunavut and through this a form of self-government for the Nunavut Inuit.

$1.2 billion dollars in compensation money will pass from the federal government to the people of Nunavut over fourteen years, ending in 2007. This money flows to the Nunavut Trust, which is required to protect and enhance this capital. The Trust passes it on to Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI), which distributes a portion to each of the three Regional Inuit Associations:  Kitikmeot Inuit Association; Kivalliq (Keewatin) Inuit Association; Baffin Regional Inuit Association.