Paul 1405,
The Murray Island situation has been covered in depth and the key point is that the people in that community had a very different, considerably more advanced society to those found on the mainland, it has more in common with PNG than prehistoric Australia.
Where the British found a system of laws and evidence of an actual society in the lands they settled they respected those systems and offered treaties, the reason no treaties were offered to indigenous Australians until recently is because they had nothing to negotiate with and no concept of what the treaty might mean.
Now that most if not all indigenous Australians have adopted a modern understanding of private property and common wealth and having many educated people among their clans to look out for their group interests treaties can and are being signed.
I don't know what the actual figure is but Aborigines today, by way of treaties with the Crown have land rights over something like 20% of the continent yet 60% of them live in the eastern capitals.

Dear Loudmouth,

That's nice, but what is your level of expertise? And please don't tell me you went to the University of Life. That's the sort of thing an idiot would say.

Hi Mr Opinion,

Apart from what you can pick up on that web-site, I'm not sure what you want: "level of expertise" ? Since you specifically rule out life experience, do you mean academic degrees in the study of Indigenous people ? No, I don't have any of those specifically, only in relation to other areas of study. Surely you don't mean only that sort of thing ?

I think that's my fourth post :(

Joe

Terra Nuillius,
Who really cares.
The important thing is to allow our Aboriginal community to be self funded.
This means returning the A.C.T. freehold land to the Aboriginal
peoples,unless this happens we are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
The income from the leases of the ACT should equal the welfare payments made toward the Indigenous communities.
Why not have a referendum by the Aboriginal Communites of Australia if this move should be made.

Dear Loudmouth,

You tell me. What is your level of expertise? You convince me that you know what you're talking about.

Dear BROCK,

Totally agree. A lot should have been done a long time ago to address the damage that had been done by the Anglo-Australians to Aboriginal peoples. From any early stage they should have been incorporated into the nation-state of the Commonwealth of Australia, being granted land rights, eradication of racial inequality within the polity, law and economy, and located constitutionally within Australian society as a symbol of the world's oldest surviving culture.