By ERWIN CHLANDA

“He has stuffed up. He knows that.”
That is the blunt assessment by Opposition Leader Terry Mills (at right) of his CLP party colleague, Nigel Scullion (at left), after he voted in the Senate last week in favour of transferring to Aborigines the ownership of 13 national parks in The Centre.
“Senator Scullion not only failed to secure the support of the Federal Opposition for the defeat of the Bill, he acted against his long-held convictions.”
Mr Mills says he is disappointed that the Federal Opposition supported the Bill.
“The Coalition misjudged the issues,” he says, possibly “in the context of recently issuing an apology” to the stolen generations.
“After speaking to Senator Scullion I understood the lie of the Coalition land.”
He says the Opposition actions “created barriers and divisions in the community.”
Although the Opposition last week still had a majority in the Senate, the Bill was passed to “schedule” the parks – including the iconic West MacDonnells – as inalienable freehold land under the Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act.
The move had been opposed for years by the CLP, local government in Alice Springs, and 75% of people answering a survey by the Alice Springs News (see extensive coverage in the Alice Springs News online edition at www.alicespringsnews.co.au).
The handover of the parks, following a deal principally between Ms Martin and the Central Land Council, was requested by the NT Government for fear that the parks could be subjected to expensive and divisive land claims.
Mr Mills described this reasoning as “untested”.
He says once Senator Scullion, who is the Leader of the Nationals in the Senate, had failed to get the Coalition’s support, his “opposition to this Bill would have been symbolic.
“It could not have affected the passage of the Bill.”
Nevertheless, says Mr Mills, “I do not agree with his decision to pass the Bill.”
Senator Scullion is the only conservative politician from the Territory in Canberra.
He had earlier stated that Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson would have no choice but to support the CLP’s stance on the parks.
The fact that he didn’t is clearly a matter of intense discussion now within the CLP, which is going into an imminent election in the NT with just four sitting members.
The Alice Springs News put to Mr Mills that the clear message from the Liberal and National parties to the majority in the Northern Territory is “you don’t exist for us”.
Mr Mills said he “more or less” agreed with that assessment.
“How conservative politics is structured and organised is high on my agenda,” he says.
Senator Scullion drew a blank not only with the people he sits with in the Federal Parliament.
A strategy to justify his own position also failed.
He had sought an assurance from NT Chief Minister Paul Henderson that the parks – due to be leased back to the Territory Government for 99 years – would be run by a board with a majority appointed by the NT Government.
Mr Henderson did not provide that guarantee – yet Senator Scullion rolled over and supported the Bill.
Says Mr Mills: “The Territory needs more than assurances” about the running of the parks.
“We need iron-clad guarantees that management will reflect the wide Territory interest.
“Assurances made by Henderson and not backed up by law are meaningless.”
Mr Mills admits that influencing the course of events now that the last opportunity of stopping the transfer has been missed, would be like “unscrambling eggs”.
But he’s working hard to plug into the national power game. He will be raising the parks fiasco with Mr Nelson, “no doubt about that”.
Mr Mills says the planned mergers in Queensland and Victoria of the Nationals and the Liberals will givean impetus for change in conservative politics, right through to the Federal arena. “When it happens, the CLP will need to capitalise on the change.”