Crown lands cutbacks jeopardise

native title claims, says union

BUDGET to managing crown lands in the state will jeopardise the processing of Aboriginal land claims and hit business owners seeking to lease crown land, says the New South Wales Public Service Association (PSA).

Employees at the Office of Crown Lands, within the Department of Primary Industries, have been told they must find savings of $13 million over four years, says assistant secretary Steve Turner.

One hundred and seventy five positions will be affected in a state-wide shake-up, which will see some functions relocated from Sydney to Dubbo and Newcastle.

Regional jobs affected in the Crown Lands restructure include Orange, Bathurst, Armidale, Tamworth, Dubbo, Griffith, Wagga Wagga and Goulburn.

The PSA will be travelling to these areas over the next fortnight to speak with members about the changes, says Mr Turner.

“The State Government is using the rhetoric of regionalisation to cut jobs and cripple agencies,” he says.

“We’re seeing jobs cut from regional areas which will hit their economies.

“But we’ll also see impacts on everyone with an interest in NSW’s extensive crown lands, including farmers, businesses, other industry groups, local

The Sydney offices responsible for processing Aboriginal land claims and researching land tenure for native title claims will be closed and relocated to Newcastle and Dubbo, says Mr Turner.

It will result in a loss of valuable skill and experience in a specialised area and reduce access to the central record-keeping facilities in Sydney.

“There is already a backlog of thousands of Aboriginal claims over crown lands in NSW,” says Mr Turner.

“The priority should be to move through these claims, rather than close the offices processing them and jeopardise the management of future claims.

“In other crown lands offices, there are situations where 10 staff have been told they will all be applying for one position.

“Most regional offices have had their staffing cut by about half.

“These cuts compound on the last two rounds of cuts which has seen 100 positions lost from regional locations since 2009.

“The NSW Government has announced a review of the Crown Lands and Aboriginal Land Claims Acts, both critical to the operations.

“They should be restructuring after these reviews, not before,” Mr Turner says.