The paradox of the Tasmanians

There are critical knowledge gaps in native title and cultural heritage protection in Tasmania that contributes to exclusion for Tasmanian Aboriginal people to enjoy the benefits of legislative mechanisms, such that there are no native title claims, ILUAs or formal joint management agreements. A chronology of native title attempts and cultural heritage protection has been developed to highlight the historical and contemporary spaces that Tasmanian Aboriginal people have occupied to negotiate rights in.

The seat of legitimacy for Tasmanian Aboriginal people (within the confines of the Western view) is revealed through an analysis of Tasmanian government policy, Aboriginal land holdings and cultural activity rights. Unfortunately, government views of land return and cultural heritage has been a duplication of colonial policies aimed at shifting the places and terms of Aboriginal engagement away from the centre to the margins.