Aboriginal land rights in Port Augusta

Abstract

Extract from the Introduction: The main considerations of this thesis are: a) That current legislation and policy are tied to a conceptual model based on stereotypes of 'traditional' and 'non-traditional' Aboriginals; b) That 'non-traditional' Aboriginals, such as the people of Port Augusta, are deprived of specialised consideration in relation to land rights because of their lack of an overtly traditional life-style; c) That the scarcity of the resource of land creates an environment prone to conflict and competition; d) That Aboriginals within highly institutionalised environments, such as Port Augusta, become inextricably tied to external institutions and even have members of their own groups co-opted into the ranks of the Government; e) That this process has facilitated the penetration and direct or indirect control of land rights politics by external agents; f) That external penetration has reshaped land rights and introduced new factors, exacerbated old factions and assisted in transforming land rights into an issue of internal competition; g) That the apparently willy-nilly strategies of Aboriginals seeking land rights are a product of their efforts to exercise choice within a context of external penetration and control.