Summary Mintabie is a small, non-Anangu town on the eastern-side of the APY Lands. Its fortunes have changed considerably over the past three decades. In the late 1980s, well over 1000 people lived there. Today it is home to around 120. As the population has declined, so too has Mintabie's economic base. Whereas in the 1980s the primary commercial activity was opal mining, today the town's businesses rely heavily on commercial transactions with Anangu. This development has reduced the growth and viability of Anangu's own stores and has been a significant drain on the overall economy of the APY Lands. To make matters worse, a significant amount of the illegal drugs and alcohol that come on to the APY Lands enter through Mintabie. The original township lease expired in 2002. On 3 December 2009, the South Australian Parliament passed the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights (Mintabie) Amendment Act 2009. This legislation creates the framework for a new lease. Anangu are hoping that the terms and conditions of the new lease will better control and/or eliminate the negative impacts Mintabie has had on their lives. The Paper TrailThe establishment of Mintabie and the APY Land Rights Act In 1981, Anangu won the inalienable freehold title to the APY Lands. This victory came at the end of protracted and often bitter negotiations. As part of those negotiations Anangu agreed to lease back to the Crown the small parcel of land on which the township of Mintabie sits.[i] When Anangu began their struggle for land rights in 1976, very little prospecting was being conducted at Mintabie. As things turned out, the push for land rights coincided with a rush on opal exploration. Consequently, by the time the South Australian Parliament began to seriously consider granting land rights to Anangu, a growing number of opal miners were setting up operations around Mintabie.[ii] In November 1978, a Labor Government introduced a Bill to establish Pitjantjatjara land rights. Before long, a group of miners from Mintabie had expressed their strong opposition to the Bill. They warned that the proposed legislation would: act against future opal prospecting and mining ... tend to hinder any other industry set up by people other than Aboriginals... [and] give no real benefit to the Aboriginals but ... cause plenty of friction with the rest of the population.[iii] The Bill was still before Parliament when a State Election was called. After the election, Anangu entered into a fresh round of negotiations with the newly-elected Liberal Government. Those negotiations concluded on 2 October 1980, when the Pitjantjatjara Council - acting for all Anangu -formally reached an agreement with the Government on the provisions of a new Bill.[iv] Introduced into Parliament on 23 October 1980, the "Pitjantjatjara Land Rights Bill 1980" proposed granting Anangu title to a large area of land including the township of Mintabie.[v] At the same time, the Bill recognised that opal mining would continue at Mintabie and included provisions to control that activity. Certain occupancy rights were to be provided to prospectors but these would be balanced with processes that Anangu could use, if necessary, to have someone evicted from Mintabie. On 25 November 1980, the Bill was referred to a Select Committee. In the course of its work the Committee visited both Mintabie and the Anangu community of Iwantja.[vi] In a written submission to the Select Committee, the Pitjantjatjara Council explained that while it did "not wish to interfere with any person who wishes to mine, conduct business or otherwise live at or visit Mintabie lawfully," it had serious concerns about "sly grog selling": The difficulties associated with Mintabie are deep-rooted ones. For a long time, the community there has been under little control from the Government, either through the Police or the Mines Department. ... The main problem in the past has been sly grog selling which has continued unchecked as recently as last week. As a result of unlimited access to take-away liquor, many Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people have been subjected to acute social dislocation. One of their men was shot-gunned to death, others killed in road accidents and many involved in lesser violence. ... the Bill must include the [Mintabie Precious Stone] Field under title to enable integrated rules for protection of the lands to apply and ... long-awaited social controls [to] be enforced.[vii] In contrast, the opal miners of Mintabie - and also some from Coober Pedy - opposed the Bill, sometimes vehemently: it is absolutely essential that the area ... of the Mintabie Precious Stones Field be excised from the Act! ... if the politicians of South Australia ignore this request, then they must be held fully responsible for any confrontation - and possibly even bloodshed - that would almost certainly follow.[viii] After extensive discussions with both the Pitjantjatjara Council and the Mintabie Progress Association, the Parliamentary Select Committee recommended that the area of land covering the township of Mintabie be included in the grant of land to Anangu but would be leased back to the Crown for a period of 21 years. Such an arrangement would enable the Crown to "issue Annual Licenses to persons entering... and wishing to reside" at Mintabie.[ix] The Committee tabled its report on 3 March 1981 and the Bill proceeded through Parliament. On 2 October 1981, the Pitjantjatjara Land Rights Act 1981 came into operation. On that day, under Section 28(2) of the Act, the township of Mintabie was "deemed to have been leased by Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara to the Crown for a term of twenty-one years."[x] Mintabie and the operation of the Act The Act of Parliament under which Anangu won title to their traditional lands also sets out the conditions under which any person (and certain classes of person) can enter the APY Lands. Aside from Anangu, most people who want to visit or live on the Lands have to obtain a permit from the land-holding body, Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY). However, under special provisions included in the Act, certain people do not have to obtain a permit if they want to visit or live at Mintabie.[xi] This is the case for: - anyone holding a precious stone prospecting permit,
- anyone conducting a lawful business at Mintabie,
- the spouse, parents and children of anyone holding a prospecting permit or carrying on a lawful business at Mintabie,
- someone who has come to Mintabie "to transact lawful business" with one of the above persons (if that business cannot be "reasonably transacted from a place outside" the APY Lands).
In addition, under the Act, anyone who is granted a special provision is permitted the use of the access roads in and out of Mintabie.[xii] As a balance to these special provisions, the Act establishes a process whereby individuals can be barred from visiting or living at Mintabie. The process makes it possible for Anangu, through APY, to apply for a court order to have someone banned or evicted from Mintabie if they have been convicted of: - larceny,
- an offence of a sexual nature,
- an offence involving violence or a breach of the peace,
- an offence involving the unlawful sale of a motor vehicle,
- an offence involving the unlawful sale of liquor or a regulated substance.
APY can also apply for a court order against someone who has committed an offence "involving wilful interference with an Aboriginal sacred site" or who has "acted in a manner prejudicial to the welfare of an Aboriginal individual or group."[xiii] Finally, the Act provides for the establishment of the "Mintabie Consultative Committee" whose main role is to provide "advice to the Minister of Mines and Energy on matters related to the administration of the Mintabie precious stones field." The five-member committee consists of two Anangu, a police officer, a Ministerial representative and a representative of the Mintabie Progress Association.[xiv] Under the Act, the Committee can, like APY, apply for a court order to be issued against a person to prevent them from visiting or living at Mintabie. All of these statutory provisions were an attempt by Parliament to strike the right balance between the needs of a relatively small group of opal miners and the needs of Anangu on whose traditional lands the miners wanted to work. The effectiveness of any Act of Parliament, however, depends on the extent to which the government of the day ensures statutory provisions are enacted and enforced. In the case of Mintabie, things have been allowed to slide. For example, in September 2004, the Department of Primary Industries and Resources SA reported that the Mintabie Consultative Committee had only held one meeting in the previous six years and that "the whole membership of this Committee has currently expired."[xv] The Department also reported that it could "find no records" of any persons having been excluded from Mintabie over the previous 20 years."[xvi] Mintabie as a source for alcohol and drugs Despite long periods of government inattention, Anangu have repeatedly highlighted the negative impacts that certain individuals and businesses operating out of Mintabie have on their lives. This has included raising their concerns with representatives of the South Australian Parliament. In October 1987, APY advised a group of parliamentarians visiting the Lands that alcohol had become a major problem for Anangu communities and that a significant amount was being brought illegally on to the Lands through Mintabie. On that occasion, Anangu called for South Australia Police "to pay greater attention in Mintabie to the sale of alcohol to Aborigines."[xvii] In 1988, after visiting Anangu communities and Mintabie, a Parliamentary Committee reported that it had also been "advised of ‘grog running' by persons apparently using Mintabie as the source of supplies and then selling the alcohol at inflated prices to Aboriginal people." The Committee recommended "that the matter of alcohol distribution from the Mintabie area be investigated urgently by the Police."[xviii] More than a decade later, significant problems remained. In 2002, in a written submission to a parliamentary inquiry, Iwantja Council alleged that many people at Mintabie were involved in "selling sly grog to Anangu." The submission continued: So much grog is stored in houses [at Mintabie] that people break in to gain access to it, what follows ends in violence and as proved recently a murder resulted directly from the stored alcohol. In recent times the sale of marijuana has reached an epidemic. This is coming from Mintabie as well. The reason it continues is that the people have to be caught in the act, an almost impossible task as the Marla police are some 40 kilometres away.[xix] A month after Iwantja made these allegations, South Australia Police (SAPOL) confirmed Mintabie as the source for a significant amount of the drugs and alcohol coming on to the APY Lands.[xx] On that occasion, SAPOL also reported that it had "recently found buried at Mintabie a large container set up with hydroponic gear that [had] been the source of cannabis for much of the lands for the past couple of years."[xxi] Drugs and alcohol continue to enter the APY Lands through Mintabie. In August 2007, South Australia Police arrested and charged two men at Mintabie for their alleged involvement in a "cannabis selling network."[xxii] In April 2008, the Mullighan Inquiry into child sexual abuse on the APY Lands noted South Australia Police's concern that Mintabie was "being used as a staging post for the trafficking of marijuana on the Lands."[xxiii] Mintabie stores and businesses For many years Mintabie's general stores and businesses have seriously impacted on Anangu well-being and on the viability of the stores in Anangu communities. In 2002, Iwantja community described this impact as follows: the biggest impediment to local Anangu is the Mintabie Mining Site and associated businesses operated there. The sale of poor quality cars without correct papers and warranty by unlicensed dealers is carried out on a daily basis. ... The stores that operate allow Anangu people to enter into a book-up arrangement, for large debts, then accept their bank key cards and pin numbers as security. They then use these key cards to remove the required payment themselves on a fortnightly basis, with little or no account keeping records. ... In some cases these same key cards have been used interstate for deductions by the store operators of their families.[xxiv] In March 2007, the Office for Consumer and Business Affairs (OCBA) reported on its recent examination of four Mintabie stores. OCBA noted that one store was selling between 300 and 350 second-hand cars per year, held 60 key cards and associated pin numbers and was allowing Anangu - some of whom lived more than 500km away - to enter into book-up arrangements.[xxv] In another store, 30 key cards and pin numbers were being held and the average amount of book-up was $1000. In a third store, OCBA found that prices were only displayed on half the items, goods were not properly weighed, and out-of-date items were being sold without the proper notification. In that store, customers were charged a 5% levy on any cash withdrawals and $5 ever time they bought something on book-up. At a fourth store - whose Anangu client base stretched from Yalata to Docker River in the Northern Territory - 95% of its business came from the direct debit of customers' Centrelink payments.[xxvi] Again, such arrangements and irregularities are nothing new. Back in 1994, the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs reported that "two shopkeepers from Mintabie" had been "prosecuted ... for dealing in motor vehicles without a licence." Both men, who "dealt mainly with local Aboriginal residents ... were found to have been buying vehicles in the southern capital cities and transporting them to Mintabie where they would be displayed at the rear of their shops and sold." Neither of the men "provided their customers with proper warranties on the cars and in some cases actually charged their customers for doing repairs when the cars were returned with faults." The Commissioner noted that the Counsel prosecuting the case had described the vehicles sold at Mintabie as "bombs" and that the Judge had "stated that cases such as these were far too prevalent."[xxvii] The changing face of Mintabie The size and character of Mintabie have changed considerably since the original lease was granted in 1981. Back then it was a relatively new and rapidly expanding opal mining field. This is no longer the case. Throughout the 1980s, the population of the township steadily climbed. By the late 1980s, well in excess of 1000 people lived there.[xxviii] Since then, the population has declined. The 2001 census counted 208 people at Mintabie, of whom 173 were staying in their usual place of residence.[xxix] By the time of the 2006 census, there were only 122 people, of whom 112 were staying in their usual place of residence.[xxx] School enrolment numbers confirm Mintabie's decline. In 1988, 59 students were enrolled at the local school.[xxxi] In 2002, this number had fallen to 36. By 2008, 14 students were enrolled at this combined primary/secondary school.[xxxii] In 2009, there were only 11 enrolments.[xxxiii] Accompanying this population decline has been a significant change in Mintabie's economic base. Whereas in the 1980s the primary commercial activity at Mintabie was opal mining, today many of the town's most successful businesses rely heavily on commercial transactions with Anangu. In 2004, the Department of Primary Industries and Resources SA reported that there were 10 businesses operating at Mintabie, including five general stores and/or second hand car dealers.[xxxiv] As Mintabie's mining fortunes have faded and fallen, business transactions with Anangu have kept the place alive economically. However, this development has reduced the growth and viability of Anangu's own stores and been a significant drain on the overall economy of the APY Lands. Lease Negotiations Section 28(1) of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands Rights Act 1981 leased Mintabie to the Crown ‘for a term of twenty-one years commencing on the date of commencement of this Act.' The original lease expired on 2 October 2002. For more than nine years, Anangu have been negotiating with the SA Government and interested parties over the conditions under which it would be prepared to enter into a new lease arrangement.[xxxv] For Anangu, the determining factor in these negotiations is not monetary gain (from lease and license payments) but the need to eradicate the serious, negative effects Mintabie has on their lives and their communities. On 21 February 2007, APY held a Special General Meeting to discuss the conditions under which it might enter into a new lease arrangement. At the meeting, Anangu decided that any new lease arrangement must: - restrict the way that alcohol can be sold at Mintabie,
- prohibit the selling of second-hand cars at Mintabie,
- prohibit the holding of ATM/key cards by storekeepers,
- end the system of book-up operating in the stores, and
- require Mintabie residents to complete a police check as part of the process of obtaining a license to work on the Mintabie Precious Stones Field.[xxxvi]
At the same meeting, South Australia Police highlighted their concern at "the amount of grog and drugs coming out of Mintabie" and urged APY to make sure its decision provided the police with "strong powers to deal with people who do these things."[xxxvii] In August 2007, the State Government provided Anangu with an update on the Mintabie lease negotiations.[xxxviii] It reported that it was preparing a 25-year lease under which: - stores would be prohibited from selling second-hand cars and the book-up system would be phased out,
- police checks would be incorporated into the application for Mintabie licenses, and
- at Mintabie, people would only be able to consume alcohol at the local hotel or at specially licensed functions.
The Government indicated that these changes would require amendments to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981 and that it anticipated being ready to present draft amendments to Anangu within two months.[xxxix] In July 2008, Ms Alison Anderson (Member for McDonnell, Northern Territory Parliament) attended a funeral at Amata. In the course of her visit, she observed "four young people sniffing petrol at a house in the community." The main resident of the house informed Ms Anderson "that the (premium unleaded) fuel had come from the Mintabie Opal Field and was selling for $70 a soft drink bottle."[xl] The Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women's Council subsequently raised the matter with the South Australian Crown Solicitor's Office. In a reply dated 29 July 2008, the Office advised the NPY Women's Council that premium unleaded petrol was sold in Mintabie in containers for using in power generators. The reply continued: while I am assured by relevant people at Mintabie that sale to Anangu does not occur at fuel outlets, having the fuel available in containers increases the likelihood of illegal sale to Anangu."[xli] On 29 July 2008, the Crown Solicitor's Office also noted that negotiations were "nearly finalised for [the] new Mintabie lease." [xlii] Almost a year later, on 26 June 2009, the State Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation (Hon Jay Weatherill MP) reported that his Government was "determined to press ahead" with some amendments to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981, including the "remaking of the lease in relation to the Mintabie part of the APY Lands."[xliii] The Minister noted that the proposed amendments would include a "toughening" of alcohol restrictions and "some tightening up" of credit arrangements, and commented: These [amendments] are welcomed by the Anangu APY Executive but are not so welcomed by some of the residents of Mintabie. Nevertheless, they are important measures, which are very strongly backed by the police.[xliv] Amendment Bill On 23 September 2009, the South Australian Government introduced the "Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights (Mintabie) Amendment Bill" into State Parliament.[xlv] At that time, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation (Hon Jay Weatherill MP) stated that the proposed amendments were "necessary for the implementation of a new lease" for the township of Mintabie, and would: - "enable the more effective management of the township" and
- address "a range of longstanding issues that have been of concern" to Anangu.[xlvi]
According to the Minister, the proposed amendments would increase the capacity of South Australia Police to: - "readily determine who is legally permitted to be at Mintabie," and
- "act more promptly to remove any person at Mintabie who is a threat to good order and good relations with Anangu."[xlvii]
The Minister indicated that under the proposed new lease arrangements: - it would "only be permissible to consume alcohol" in Mintabie "at licensed premises or at specially licensed events" and
- people delivering alcohol to the township would "be required to notify the Marla police at least 24 hours beforehand."[xlviii]
Additional information (updated 4 December 2009) On 3 December 2009, the South Australian Parliament passed the "Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights (Mintabie) Amendment Bill."[xlix] The Paper Tracker welcomes the passing of the Act and looks forward to the new lease being finalised in the near future. This page will be updated as additional information becomes available. The Paper Tracker strives to provide accurate and up-to-date information. It believes the above account to be a true and fair representation of what has happened. We will remove any inaccurate information as soon as it is brought to our attention. Please contact us if you have additional information on this matter or can provide us with an update.
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APY Lands Commitments 
