AACAP (Laura) Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)

The Extract from the Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements identifies the agreement area as all the land and waters within the external boundary that is described as the Laura Town Area and the Construction Area

The Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Programme (AACAP) (Laura) Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) is an area agreement that was made under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) between:

• the Native Title Group [Michael Ross, Silva Blanco, James Creek, Jonathan Korkaktain, Reginald Williams, Wayne Butcher, Clarry Flinders, Philip Port and Hogan Shortjoe, being the persons comprising the Applicant in the Cape York United Number 1 Claim (QUD673/2014)] and
• the Commonwealth of Australia.

The purpose of the ILUA is to provide the Australian Government with consent for the doing of any acts in relation to the AACAP (Laura) Project.

The ILUA covers about 3.1 sq km, in the vicinity of Laura on the Cape York Peninsula, located 87 km west of Cooktown. 

The Native Title Representative Body for this area is the Cape York Land Council Aboriginal Corporation.

Background to the Agreement:

This ILUA involved almost two years of collaborative planning by the Laura community, Cook Shire, Cape York Land Council (CYLC) and the Queensland Government to provide infrastructure improvements, vocational skills training as well as health care services (Australian Government, 2016).

Details of the Agreement:

The Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Programme (AACAP) is a joint initiative between the Australian Army and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The ILUA provides consent for the doing of the AACAP (Laura) Future Acts, which means the grant of any approvals, or of any other rights and interests, that are considered by the
Commonwealth, acting reasonably, to be necessary or desirable for, or incidental to, the undertaking of the AACAP (Laura) Project.

The AACAP (Laura) Project means all or any of the following acts:

• construction, operation, use, maintenance or repair of the Waste Water Disposal System;
• the grant of a Tenure over all or part of Lot 200 to the Commonwealth;
• the grant of a Tenure over that part of Lot 200 where the Waste Water Disposal System is located (but not over all of Lot 200) to Cook Shire Council;
• construction of the Multi-Purpose Facility;
• construction of the Basketball Court Roof;
• construction of the Footpath;
• construction of the Picnic Area Infrastructure;
• all Future Acts necessary to give effect to the acts described above in this definition;
• construction, occupation and use of the Temporary Army Camp; and
• all acts done in accordance with a Tenure granted under this Agreement.

Commencement:

The ILUA commences on its execution date.

Termination:

Subject to its termination under clause 4 of the Agreement, the ILUA operates for the duration of the AACAP (Laura) Project.

Native Title Provisions:

Right to negotiate

The Extract notes that Subdivision P, Division 3, Part 2 of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) ('NTA') is not intended to
apply to the doing of the AACAP (Laura) Future Acts. This means that the parties agree that the right to negotiate provisions of the NTA do not apply to the AACAP (Laura) Future Acts.

Non-extinguishment

The parties have not agreed to extinguish native title. This means that under s 24EB(3) of the NTA any of the AACAP (Laura) Future Acts authorised under this ILUA which may be inconsistent with native title rights and interests do not extinguish these interests, instead they are revived when the activities are finished.

Future Act provisions

Subject to compliance with the ILUA, if any of the AACAP (Laura) Future Acts are done
after the execution date of the ILUA and prior to its registration with the National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT) are invalid Future Acts, the parties
agree to the validating of those acts.

Native Title in the ILUA Area:

The ILUA area is within the native title claim application area for the Cape York United Number 1 Claim v State of Queensland (Cape York United Number 1 Claim) (Federal Court number: QUD673/2014; NNTT number: QC2014/008). The claim application was registered with the National Native Title Tribunal on 6/02/2015.

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