The financial underpinnings of land rights law: for whose benefit?

At the stroke of a pen in 1976, lands that had been reserved for exclusive Aboriginal use under the Crown Lands Ordinance - about 20 per cent of the Northern Territory - was vested in land trusts and was the real estate property of traditional owners. Subsequently, Aboriginal 'land rights' ownership (as distinct from 'native title' determination) has expanded to just on 50 per cent after a protracted claims process.