Malcolm Turnbull has handed over the title deeds for one of Australia's most complicated and longest-running Aboriginal land rights claims to traditional owners.
The prime minister appeared in Mandorah on Tuesday for the formal handover of the Kenbi Land Claim deeds.
The claim, covering 676 square kilometres of the Cox Peninsula west of Darwin, has been the subject of ongoing disputes, two extensive hearings, three federal court reviews and two High Court appeals.
In April, 37 years after the claim began, a final settlement was reached between council, traditional owners and the federal government.
Northern Land Council chief executive Joe Morrison says the handback ceremony will deliver certainty to the community.
It would also give the opportunity for Aboriginal people to participate in the economic development and cultural protection of the Cox Peninsula, he said.
"Thirty seven years is far too long to wait for lands to be returned," he will tell the ceremony.
"But I stress that today really is a day for celebration."
Taking his campaign to the electorate of Solomon, Mr Turnbull will be buoyed by updated economic modelling on defence spending in the Northern Territory.
He is expected to spruik the data from Independent Economics showing the territory economy will grow by 4.7 per cent as a result of the government's defence investment.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks to locals as he attends the Kenbi Native land claim ceremony near Darwin, Tuesday, June 21, 2016. Source: AAP
Turnbull makes pitch for more Indigenous MPs
Mr Turnbull says a milestone for Australia's Indigenous people could be reached at the federal election.
At least 12 candidates for the July 2 election identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
"If six or seven of those candidates are successful, we will have parity in our parliament - that is, our First Australians will be represented in the parliament as they are in the population," Mr Turnbull said at a land handover in the Northern Territory on Tuesday.
The Liberals have the first Aboriginal member of the House of Representatives, Ken Wyatt, who is seeking re-election in his West Australian seat of Hasluck.
The party is also standing 27-year-old openly gay Indigenous lawyer Geoffrey Winters in the Labor seat of Sydney, held by Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek.
She told the party's official launch on Sunday that her party was offering more Aboriginal candidates than any party ever before.
Among them are respected Indigenous leader Pat Dodson, who is contesting a Senate seat in WA, and Linda Burney, who is running in the NSW seat of Barton to become the first Aboriginal woman elected to the lower house.
Mr Turnbull said cooperation between the local, state and federal governments and Indigenous communities had closed the education gap on Year 12 completions and ensured Aboriginal babies are living longer.
"(But) one of the most important objectives - in some ways the most important - must be greater economic empowerment," he said.
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