Mr Abbott, who visited Aboriginal communities in north Queensland last week, introduced a private member's bill to thwart the state laws that prevent development on rivers in the region.
Aboriginal communities are divided over the worth of the laws that restrict development in environmentally-sensitive areas of Cape York.
Mr Abbott said land had cultural and spiritual value for indigenous people but it should have economic value as well.
He called for a further parliamentary inquiry on the legislation but warned it should not act to stall the issue further.
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"It's very important that this inquiry does not turn out to be a delaying tactic," Mr Abbott told parliament on Monday.
The opposition leader said his bill would strike two blows: maintaining the rights of Aboriginal people and ensuring their economic advancement.
People living in remote areas should not be confined to welfare villages and all Australians normally had reasonable right to economic development, Mr Abbott said.
"These reasonable rights have in effect been taken away by the current legislation in Queensland."
Mr Abbott said he was proud to introduce the bill to parliament on behalf of the Aboriginal people.
It was one of the ways the coalition had changed to believe in the rights of Aboriginal people, he added.
Earlier Labor said it would wait for the findings of a parliamentary inquiry before deciding to back the coalition move or not.
Parliamentary secretary Richard Marles said the government wanted to see what was in Mr Abbott's bill and hear from a lower house committee before making any decision on the legislation.
"We want to see what the outcome of that inquiry process is there," he told Sky News.
Mr Abbott said development had already been halted in the region with the cancelling of the Cape Alumina bauxite mine.
Wilderness Society Wild Rivers campaigner Glenn Walker said it was extraordinary Mr Abbott was going into bat so hard for the mining industry.
It was a huge slap in the face for Australia's natural heritage and the work Steve Irwin had put in to conserve such areas.
"This is a real farce," Mr Walker told AAP.
Mr Abbott was completing ignoring the wishes of many Aboriginal people who wanted their Wild Rivers protected, he said.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said Mr Abbott's move was disappointing and called on him to rethink his position.
"I am disappointed that Tony Abbott would introduce his first private member's bill on something as important and precious as the environment in our far flung and remote part of Queensland," she told reporters at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo, north of Brisbane, on Monday.
"I would just ask Tony Abbott to think long and hard before he takes this path. He's politicising something that we should be able to agree on."
"I hope that Tony Abbott changes his mind."
The late crocodile hunter's widow, Terry Irwin, said Wild Rivers, including the Wenlock River on Cape York, must be protected from mining and other threats.
"If we remove the bauxite we destroy this region forever and that's the concern I share with the traditional owners on the land," she told reporters.
"I am more optimistic by far this year than I was last year. Wild Rivers is a huge step to protecting the riparian region, the wetlands and the streams of this area."
Cape Alumina last month said it would abandon a $1.2 billion bauxite mining proposal in western Cape York, near the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve.
The company blamed the 500-metre buffer zone that applies to declared Wild Rivers, in this case the Wenlock River, for making the project unviable.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said Mr Abbott's move was disappointing and called on him to rethink his position.
"I am disappointed that Tony Abbott would introduce his first private member's bill on something as important and precious as the environment in our far flung and remote part of Queensland," she told reporters at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo, north of Brisbane, on Monday.
"I would just ask Tony Abbott to think long and hard before he takes this path. He's politicising something that we should be able to agree on."
"I hope that Tony Abbott changes his mind."
The late crocodile hunter's widow, Terri Irwin, said Wild Rivers, including the Wenlock River on Cape York, must be protected from mining and other threats.
"If we remove the bauxite we destroy this region forever and that's the concern I share with the traditional owners on the land," she told reporters.
"I am more optimistic by far this year than I was last year. Wild Rivers is a huge step to protecting the riparian region, the wetlands and the streams of this area."
Cape Alumina last month said it would abandon a $1.2 billion bauxite mining proposal in western Cape York, near the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve.
The company blamed the 500-metre buffer zone that applies to declared Wild Rivers, in this case the Wenlock River, for making the project unviable.
