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Give tax break to miners, says study – National – smh.com.au

Give tax break to miners, says study –
 Sydney Morning Herald Joel Gibson Indigenous Affairs Reporter December 9, 2008 EXTENSIVE tax breaks would be given to mining and resources companies that do the right thing by native title claimants under proposed improvements to the native title system.

Fifteen years of negotiations under the Native Title Act had produced a handful of model agreements because native title groups were inadequately represented and companies and governments had taken advantage of that.

New entrants into the industry were the worst offenders, the report said. “While hundreds of agreements exist between traditional owners and industry, there are only around one dozen agreements that provide substantial benefits to Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders and exhibit principles embodying best practice in agreement making.

“Traditional owners’ interests are often compromised in negotiations. Commonly the traditional owners’ interests are not adequately represented………….More than 60 per cent of mineral operations in Australia are next to indigenous communities, and about 340 new resource development projects are proposed in coming years.

Give tax break to miners, says study – National – smh.com.au

December 9, 2008 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized