Senator CHRIS EVANS(3.15 p.m.) —I think the Special Minister of State, Senator Minchin, has been quite misleading in contributing to this debate because I have in front of me the transcript of his comments. It started with a question from Eleanor Hall which went directly to the letter from the office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Tim Fischer) in which he warned that freehold title land in suburban Castlemaine could be thrown into doubt by the Wik decision. The comments by Senator Minchin flowed directly from that proposition put to him by Eleanor Hall about the letter from the Deputy Prime Minister. That is how this started. That is the context, not the context that Senator Minchin now seeks to use.

It really reflects that, last week when things were going badly for the government in terms of the public debate about Wik, they decided to revert to the tactic that Richard Court had used throughout 1994-95—that is, to try to gather some support in suburban Australia by threatening people who lived in the suburbs by saying that somehow their small block of freehold land would be affected by the Wik decision and that somehow, unless they supported the government, their private block of land would be at risk, their backyards would not be safe. It was kicked off by Tim Fischer and followed up by Senator Minchin. The Prime Minister (Mr Howard) and the flotsam and jetsam of the backbench have all joined in in the last few days.

Members of the government tried to give us the technical argument today, but that is an absolute diversion. It was about the politics. They had not raised this issue for two or three years. It suddenly was the pre-eminent issue when they were struggling in the debate about the future of the Wik legislation and they knew they were losing that debate. At the time they were blaming greedy black fellows and the church, but now it is the media's fault. They have been trailing through the list of those they wish to blame.

Members of the government will not accept that the real problem is that they have got the legislation wrong. They cannot accept the fact that they are losing the public debate. They are moving to quite desperate tactics. What we saw today was a quite comical performance by the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (Senator Herron). It would be very funny if it wasn't so terribly sad, because in his second reading speech on the Native Title Amendment Bill 1997 he came in here and ran the same lines about backyards being under threat. It is a disgrace.

This man is supposed to be the advocate for Aboriginal people in Australia. He is supposed to be doing things like he did today—releasing a booklet which helps dispel the myths, helps attack those prejudices in Australian society and helps put the correct position. What does he do? The book says one thing—that it is a myth that backyards are not safe from Aboriginal claim—and the book goes on to explain how that is a myth, that there is no basis in fact for that claim. But the minister comes in here in the second reading debate on the Native Title Amendment Bill 1997 and backs up the Prime Minister and backs up Senator Minchin because that is their political tactic.

He knows it is not true. He knows it is designed to spread fear of Aboriginal people and to build resentment against Aboriginal people in the community. His job is to work against that sort of development, but he comes in here in a most disgraceful performance and helps breed that sort of resentment and that sort of fear. He refused a couple of days ago to condemn the remarks of Mr Marek, the National Party backbencher from Queensland, about $20 and a box of Jatz. Did he condemn those remarks? No, he talked about what a great member Mr Marek is.

This is the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs in this country. He will not show any leadership in trying to rebut the myths, rebut the prejudices and deal with these problems that Aboriginal people face in our community. This is the man charged with that duty. This is the man the government has given the job of assisting Aboriginal people, but he will not do that. He cannot bring himself to break away from the prejudices that dominate the Liberal Party these days.

He had the audacity the other day to say that Mr Viner and Mr Chaney, two former Liberal ministers for Aboriginal affairs, needed re-educating—the old Cambodian Pol Pot solution. What a disgraceful action. That is his way. I have never agreed with Mr Chaney or Mr Viner on anything else politically, but they have got some respect in this community for their commitment to seeking justice and fair play for Aboriginal people. But will Senator Herron have a good word about them? No. Again he seeks to denigrate their contributions and say he is going to re-educate them. I know who knows something about Aboriginal affairs in this country and Senator Herron is not one of them.