No, the Voice referendum will not end private land ownership in Australia

^{By Renee Davidson}

A decades-old claim alleging that private land ownership is under threat from native title has resurfaced ahead of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice referendum. 

This time round, supporters of the No Vote have intertwined the claim with the “New World Order” conspiracy theory to assert baselessly that the Voice is a plot to strip Australians of their property rights and enslave the population to a “global landlord”.

For instance, one Facebook user falsely claimed in a post made on April 28, that the Australian government, in collusion with the World Economic Forum (WEF), was orchestrating the Voice referendum to change the constitution so that all private land could be transferred to native title and then “handed over” to WEF and the government for “complete and total control”. 

Native title is the recognition under Australian common law of pre-existing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights and interests in land and waters according to their traditional laws and customs. 

The Facebook post, which has been shared more than 1,100 times, claims:  

“They are using the "VOICE" to change our lawful CONSTITUTION to change everything we own over to NATIVE TITLE under the current Aboriginal Native Titles Act.

“Under that NATIVE TITLE, NO ONE will have any ownership rights whatsoever under NATIVE TITLE,” then adding that  “THE WEF/NEW WORLD ORDER WILL BECOME OUR GLOBAL LANDLORD.” 

The Facebook user warned in the post that “millions” of people will be forced onto the streets, and that business owners would lose their premises, with the end result being that “we will all end up their slaves”. 

Dozens of social media users have copied and pasted the Facebook message in their own posts or shared a screenshot of the post, with one such post amassing more than 13,700 views on Telegram. 

But the claim is false. The wording of the proposed constitutional change does not mention land or native title. 

The Voice referendum proposes to amend the Australian Constitution to include a new section to recognise Indigenous Australians as the First Peoples of Australia and to create an advisory body called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Voice. 

A successful Yes vote would would insert the following lines into the constitution:

“Chapter IX Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

129 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice

In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:

1. there shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;
   

2. the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
   

3. the Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.”

Dr Kate Galloway, an associate professor at Griffith University’s Law School, rejected the claim that a successful Yes vote would change the Australian Constitution to end all private land ownership as “completely incorrect”. 

“The words of the proposed constitutional change are both absolutely clear as to the boundaries of the proposal, and utterly incapable of being construed as transferring title,” Dr Galloway told RMIT FactLab in an email. 

“These words relate solely to creating space in our system of governance for First Nations people to make representations. There is no mention of land, no mention of any other right, power, or privilege. The words are very clear,” she said.

Dr Galloway said any grant of freehold title (private property) in Australia permanently extinguishes native title.  “Once ‘private land’ exists, there is no native title,” she said. “So the proposition simply cannot be true.”

Associate Professor Harry Hobbs, an expert in constitutional law and Indigenous treaty at  the University of Technology Sydney, echoed Dr Galloway’s comments, dismissing the claims in the Facebook post as “ludicrous”. 

“Private land cannot be transferred to native title,” Dr Hobbs told FactLab in an email. 

“It [native title] is only available where traditional owners can prove a continuing connection to their traditional lands and waters,” he said. “It is no longer available on lands that are owned privately.”

Dr Hobbs pointed out that the Commonwealth is already empowered to acquire land compulsorily under the constitution (Section 51(xxxi)), but that it must provide "just terms" for any acquisition.

“The proposed referendum simply would recognise Indigenous Australians in the constitution by creating a Voice through which Indigenous representatives could have input on law and policy that affect them,” he said.

The referendum for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament is expected to be held between October and December this year. Australians will vote on whether to change the constitution to establish the Voice to advise the parliament and government on matters relating to Indigenous people. 

The legislation to establish the referendum passed through the lower house on May 31, and was approved by the Senate on June 19. No date has been set for the referendum but it must now be held in two to six months.

_{Credit thumbnail photo: National Native Title Tribunal}