Sue Higginson MLC says the Minns government has introduced the Crown Land Management Amendment (Statutory Review) Bill 2026 and then tabled the statutory review report two days later, in a flawed process that appears designed to avoid proper scrutiny of major changes affecting Aboriginal land claims, inside what is being presented as routine legislative reform.
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council has publicly warned that the bill would hollow out Aboriginal land rights, and a statewide conference of Local Aboriginal Land Councils descended on NSW parliament yesterday to oppose it.
Greens spokesperson for the environment and solicitor Sue Higginson said yesterday, ‘This bill has sparked major opposition because people can see exactly what it is, an attempt to make serious changes to Crown lands law, including changes that impact Aboriginal land claims, through a process designed to avoid proper scrutiny.
‘The High Court made it clear that the State cannot defeat an Aboriginal land claim by pointing to a lease on paper where the land was not actually being used when the claim was made,’ she said.
‘This bill is designed to get around that decision by letting the minister retrospectively change the use of Crown land after the fact, to defeat a claim that was valid when it was lodged. This is an injustice in the making and an attempt to avoid the return of crown lands subject to Aboriginal land claims.
‘The government introduced the bill first and only tabled the statutory review report two days later. That is a highly flawed process in any circumstance, but it is especially unacceptable where the bill affects the already narrow and hard-fought framework for Aboriginal land rights.’
Unequivocal opposition
Sue Higginson said, ‘The NSW Aboriginal Land Council is unequivocal in their opposition, and today a statewide conference of Land Councils has come to parliament to make that opposition visible. When First Nations communities across NSW are forced to mobilise like this, the government should understand it has lost any claim to having handled this issue in good faith.
‘The Law Society of NSW has come out this morning clearly opposed to the government attempting such a radical and unfair reform by stealth. When both the peak legal body and the peak Aboriginal land rights body are raising alarm, the government cannot pretend this is ordinary or non-controversial reform.
‘If Labor wants to make major changes to Aboriginal land claims, it should do so openly, directly, and in consultation with the people whose rights are affected. It should not hide behind the language of a statutory review while trying to push through changes that many people in the Parliament, and I suspect many people in the Labor caucus, do not yet fully understand.
‘The Greens will scrutinise every provision of this bill and oppose any measure that weakens Aboriginal land rights, narrows access to land justice, or shifts more power back into the hands of the State over land that was never ceded,’ Ms Higginson said.
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