Native Title claims will be faster: Wong

(AAP) - Native title claims are expected to be processed faster under new laws passed by parliament.

Under the changes, the Federal Court will manage and oversee the mediation process
for land claims made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people.
Government minister Penny Wong says the changes will allow claims to be settled faster.
Currently each claim takes an average of six years.
There is a backlog of about 500 claims.
The court will be able to more forcefully pull into line recalcitrant parties and if
a matter becomes deadlocked, it can use its case management powers to ensure it is
resolved.
Liberal Senator Russell Trood had expressed some reservations about the changes,
saying he wasn't confident they would speed up the process.
He feared the National Native Title Tribunal would be marginalised and there would
be additional burdens on the Federal Court.
Senator Trood also said the mediation of claims would become inconsistent and
fragmented because the legislation fails to define who can be a mediator and doesn't
require them to have any particular qualifications.
"The mediators themselves will be given considerable coercive powers under the
legislation," Senator Trood said.
"Mediators have a role to play but I think it's important that they exercise their
powers in a consistent fashion.
"We ought to be careful about giving these kinds of coercive powers to people with
limited qualifications or over which the Act itself proposes no particular
accountability."
Australian Greens senator Rachel Siewert said her biggest issue with the legislation
was that it still required indigenous groups to prove their connection with the
land.