Showing posts with label Native Title. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Native Title. Show all posts

Thursday 22 December 2022

Native title over certain land & waters in the Northern Rivers region granted to Widjabul-Wia-bal People on 19 December 2022


 

On 19 December 2022 the Federal Court of Australia recognised Native Title in relation to Application NC2013/005 - Widjabul Wia-bal People.


The Widjabul Wia-bal now hold native title over approximately 11,700 hectares of their traditional lands and waters within Ballina, Byron, Kyogle, Lismore City, Richmond Valley and Tweed local government areas. As set out in Widjabul Wia-Bal v Attorney-General of New South Wales (Section 87 Agreement) [2022] FCA 1521.


IMAGE: FCA 1521
Click on image to enlarge















According to the NSW Government the settlement also includes an agreement to disregard historical extinguishment of native title in national parks within the claim area, paving the way for the future recognition of native title over an additional 2,600 hectares of national parks.


From the beginning the NSW O’Farrell-Baird-Berejiklian-Perrottet Coalition Government resisted this native title claim in the Federal Court and, in this writer’s opinion, did not always act in good faith.


Perhaps this determination may give the Rothwell Family, Winten Property Group, Winten (No 12) Pty Limited, Glorbill Pty Ltd, Folsom Pty. Ltd, William Anthony Sexton, Lismore City Council and Mayor Steve Krieg, pause for reflection on their own business decisions and/or political ambitions.


Saturday 24 September 2022

Tweet of the Week



Tuesday 17 May 2022

The Perrottet Coalition Government just won't give up on a bad tourism idea for the Clarence River estuary


North Coast Voices readers may recall that in March 2017 Lower Clarence River communities became aware that Liberal MLA for Willoughby and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and members of her Cabinet were considering expanding the uses that the Clarence River estuary and the Port of Yamba could be put to.


By November of that year it had firmed into future plans for Yamba to become a cruise ship port and destination with a waterborne trojan horse to be delivered into the estuary in October 2018.


The Yamba and Iluka communities were not amused by both the NSW Government's plans and its lack of consultation.


These communities got loud. The Berejiklian Government went quiet and the named international cruise ship company decided to bypass the Port of Yamba. 


There appeared to have been no specific development activities in 2019 or in 2020 when the global pandemic reached Australia.


However, this was, and under Liberal MP for Epping NSW Premier Dominic Perrott still is, a government which doesn't like taking a decided "No" for an answer.


So this is still appearing on a current tourism website set up under the auspices of the NSW Government.









Note: All webpage snapshots were taken on 16 May 2022 at

https://www.visitnsw.com/travel-information/cruise/yamba


Friday 16 July 2021

Banyam Baigham, the Sleeping Lizard, returned to the Widjabul Wia-bal Traditional Custodians


An excellent example of natural justice for the Widjabul Wia-bal Traditional Custodians and genuine recognition of their connection to country and culture by Lismore City Council. Well-written and empathetic journalism by Eve Jeffrey.


Echo NetDaily, 14 July 2021:



Everybody (almost) hands up! Councillors Vanessa Ekins, Darlene Cook, Elly Bird, Eddie Lloyd, Nancy Casson, Adam Guise and Neil Marks, vote to hand back the Sleeping Lizard to the local mob. Councillor Bill Moorhouse voted against the motion.




















In an emotional and historic vote, Lismore City Council last night passed a motion to hand back Banyam Baigham – Sleeping Lizard, known as the North Lismore Plateau, to the Traditional Custodians.



Lismore Mayor, Councillor Vanessa Ekins, spoke at length about the significance of handing back the Council owned land.



Representatives from the local mob including Uncle Mick Ryan, Aunty Marie Delbridge, Aunty Thelma James and Mindy Woods, and North Lismore Plateau Protection Association Inc. spokesperson Dot Moller, took the opportunity to speak in favour of the motion during public access.



The authority and standing to speak for Country



Uncle Mick Ryan said he had both the authority and standing to speak for that country.



At the outset, I say to you all that tonight is an historic moment. Grasping this monumental opportunity is a real positive action, more than just empty words.



This is a very big step by our community for justice and reconciliation. For all of us, Aboriginal and non-indigenous alike.



Not supporting this hand back will just be a continuation of all the injustices people have suffered through massacre, dispossession, stealing of their children in the 200 years of the discriminatory policies enacted by colonial, state and Commonwealth governments.



What happens tonight will reflect not only on the Council but the wider community.



I believe it will not only be a tragedy but an opportunity lost. There is no question the land to be handed back has been identified as containing some of the most significant and sacred sites within the Bundjalung nation.



My responsibility as a senior elder of the Bundjalung nation is toward the protection of ancestral lands and all the animals, plants and people who dwell within.



Let’s commence this process of reconciliation and recognition in a meaningful way to right the great injustice, for Council to listen carefully to what I have said and did a proper thing.



We Aboriginal people have a strong tradition embedded in our culture of sharing and caring and welcoming.



Go beyond the personal politics and point-scoring.



All of you see the demand for supporting this historic occasion and supporting the hand back of our sacred land to the rightful landowners,’ said Mr Ryan.



A deep affinity with particular areas of land



Also speaking for the Bundjalung was Mindy Woods who said that Traditional Custodians have a deep affinity with particular areas of land. ‘Much of our sense of identity is derived from it,’ she said.



One area is not exchangeable for another, unlike those of Western land systems. We recognize the cultural, spiritual and historical significance of Banyam North Lismore Plateau.



This land is steeped in our history, our culture, our spirituality, and our very existence. This is your history.



We support and hope to celebrate the motion that custodianship of Council-owned land on North Lismore Plateau be returned to the Widjabul Wia-bal clan group.



For you, our Councillors, this is a significant decision, but a small and vital step to a long journey towards genuine recognition, reconciliation, protection and celebration of our history,’ she said.



We extend our thanks and extend our hand to join you on this journey.’



The Sleeping Lizard



Cr Ekins, who moved a motion that Council hand back Council-owned land on the North Lismore Plateau to the Traditional Owners, was very passionate in her address to the chamber, imploring all councillors to vote in favour of the motion.



This is a pretty important decision that we’re making to heal Country.



We’ve been talking about the North Lismore Plateau and development on it for 20 years. We’ve spent many years in consultation with the Aboriginal community about the significance of that land. And we know that the site is really significant to the Aboriginal community. It’s Sleeping Lizard Hill, it’s well documented and known to us.



We need to hand back Council-owned land to the Traditional Custodians. It’s a really small but significant gesture. And it links Lismore with the National Native Title process that’s going on around us everywhere.



A Native Title claim was lodged in 2013, and what that claim has done for the Widjabul Wia-bal Custodians, it has recognized that there is connection for Widjabul Wia-bal people to the North Lismore plateau, going back time immemorial.



Cr Ekins outlined the distant and recent history of the land and concluded that the best use for that land is that it be handed it back to the care and control of the Widjabul Wia-bal Traditional Custodians. ‘It’s a pretty easy decision tonight Councilors, we just decide to hand it back.



We can’t use this land. We haven’t used it for 40 years, and we’re unlikely to use it for another decade, but it’s really important to the Widjabul Wia-bal Traditonal Custodians. They can protect it and manage it.’



Just hand it back



I’m just asking you to make the decision tonight. Just to hand it back,’ said Cr Ekins.



The motion was passed with votes in favour from Crs Ekins, Lloyd, Bird Marks, Cook, Casson and Guise with only Cr Bill Moorhouse voting against.



Thursday 6 May 2021

Bandjalang People gain Native Title over culturally significant land in the Bora Ridge, Evans Head & Lawrence areas of the Northern Rivers region


ABC News, 30 April 2021:


The Bandjalang people in far north New South Wales gathered today to celebrate a native title determination that was 25 years in the making.


The land includes a culturally significant bora ring near Coraki, north west of Evans Head, along with land already under the control of six local Aboriginal land councils.


The determination finalises a claim which was initially launched by the Bandjalang in 1996, the majority of which was determined in 2013.


Federal Court Justice Steven Rares said the Bandjalang had proven their continual connection to the land through the long-running court proceedings.


A map showing some of the larger parcels of land covered by the determination.(Supplied: NTSCorp)
















Traditional owner Simone Barker said she was sad her father Lawrence Wilson was no longer alive to see the claim he launched more than two decades ago come to fruition.


But she said she was proud of the legacy he had helped to create.


"He taught us well as children, that our culture matters first before anything else, and who we are, and to be very proud of that," she said…. 


Tuesday 29 January 2019

Wangan and Jagalingou people's fight against foreign mining giant Adani continues into 2019



ABC News, 25 January 2019:

The United Nations has asked the Australian Government to consider suspending the Adani project in central Queensland until it gains the support of a group of traditional owners who are fighting the miner in court.

A UN committee raised concerns that the Queensland coal project may violate Indigenous rights under an international convention against racial discrimination if it goes ahead, giving Australia until April to formally respond.

Meanwhile, a public interest legal fund backed by former corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald has stepped in with financial backing for a federal court challenge to Adani by its opponents within the Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) people.

The Grata Fund, which boasts the former federal court judge as a patron, agreed to pay a court-ordered $50,000 bond so W&J representatives can appeal a court ruling upholding a contentious land access deal secured by the miner.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination last month wrote to Australia's UN ambassador to raise concerns that consultation on Adani's Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) "might not have been conducted in good faith".

These allegations "notably" included that members of the W&J native title claim group were excluded, and the committee was concerned the project "does not enjoy free, prior and informed consent of all (W&J) representatives"….

UN committee chair Noureddine Amir in a letter told Australia's UN ambassador Sally Mansfield the committee was concerned ILUAs could lead to the "extinction of Indigenous peoples' land titles" in Australia.

Mr Amir said it was "particularly concerned" by 2017 changes to native title laws to recognise ILUAs not signed by all native title claimants, "which appears to be in contradiction" with an earlier landmark Federal Court ruling.

"Accordingly, the committee is concerned that, if the above allegations are corroborated, the realisation of the Carmichael Coal Mine and Rail Project would infringe the rights of the Wangan and Jagalingou people, rights that are protected under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination," Mr Amir said.

The committee gave Australia until April 8 to outline steps taken to ensure proper consent "in accordance with Indigenous peoples' own decision-making mechanisms".

It asked Australia to "consider suspending" the Adani project until consent was given by "all Indigenous peoples, including the Wangan and Jagalingou family council".

It invited Australia to seek expert advice from the UN experts on Indigenous rights and to "facilitate dialogue" between the W&J and Adani.

Wednesday 1 August 2018

About water and belonging


Clarence River, New South Wales Far North Coast. Image at visitnsw.com

















Virginia Marshall, February 2017, Overturning Aqua Nullius: securing Aboriginal water rights, excerpt:

Water landscapes hold meaning and purpose under Aboriginal laws. After thousands of years, the spiritual relationship of being part of Country remains integral, and despite the significant political and social change heaved upon the lives of Aboriginal communities the sacredness of water shapes the identity and values of Aboriginal peoples.

The creation story that opens this chapter recognises the relationship of Nyikina peoples to the river system, the land and the liyan (spirit) in its peoples and all things on Nyikina Country. Nyikina peoples have a name for the river, mardoowarra (the Fitzroy River), and yimardoowarra means Nyikina peoples ‘belong’ to the lower part of the mardoowarra. Underground water, which travels through neighbouring Aboriginal land, creates a joint responsibility.

Aboriginal water management, as discussed in a Northern Territory study of water values and interests in the Katherine Region, represents a complex web of relationships:

Every aspect of water as a phenomena and physical resource as well as the hydro morphological features it creates is represented and expressed in the languages of local Aboriginal cultures: mist, clouds, rain, hail, seasonal patterns of precipitation, floods and floodwater, river flows, rivers, creeks, waterholes, billabongs, springs, soaks, groundwater and aquifers, and the oceans (saltwater).

The inherent relationships of Aboriginal peoples with land and water are regulated by traditional knowledge. For generations Aboriginal peoples have developed significant water knowledge for resource use. Aboriginal water knowledge, traditional sharing practices, climate and seasonal weather knowledge underpin water use knowledge. Aboriginal customary water use cannot be decoupled from the relationship with the environment and water resources because Aboriginal water concepts are central to community and kinship relationships. Unlike Western legal concepts, water cannot be separated from the land because Aboriginal creation stories have laid the foundations for Aboriginal water values.

Friday 29 June 2018

Adani Group At Work: using backroom political deals & big money to make fools of us all



The Wangan and Jagalingou Peoples registered a Native Title application on 5 July 2004 and their interests are often presented to the media via the Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council

According to ORIC Kyburra Munda Yalga Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC was originally registered on 5 July 2011 as Kyburra Munda Yalga Aboriginal Corporation and its name changed on 6 March 2013 and, according to ASIC Juru Enterprises Limited was registered on 23 April 2012.  

On 11 July 2014 and 26 June 2015 the Juru People were granted Native Title by the Federal Court over land in north Queensland.

Then foreign multinational resources and energy corporation, the Adani Group, went to work...... 


The Wangan and Jagalingou people gathered two weeks ago at a convention centre in Carseldine north of Brisbane.

They were there to vote on a proposal to make sure those responsible for their native title claim were truly representative of the Wangan and Jagalingou people. These are the traditional owners of the land in the Galilee Basin, precisely where Indian company Adani aims to build Australia's biggest coal mine, the controversial $16 billion Carmichael project.

Twice in three years, the Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) had rejected Adani's advances to sign a land deal for the mine, and twice Adani had dragged them off to the Native Title Tribunal and sought approval for the state to override their opposition to the mine.

It was just after 9am on Saturday, June 20, when two charter buses turned up at the Tavernetta Function Centre in Carseldine. Adani had bussed in 150 people in a sly bid to force consideration of a new memorandum of understanding they claimed to have with W&J, despite the previous 'no vote' from W&J. It was an Adani ambush, and it must have cost a fortune: three days of food, accommodation and transport for 150 people.

"We saw the buses turn up and we were wondering what was going on," says traditional owner and W&J lead spokesman Adrian Burragubba.

"They tried to organise their own meeting after ours in order to get the people to agree to their MoU - a kind of tricked ILUA [Indigenous Land Use Agreement] when they knew they didn't have one. Right now we're in the Federal Court precisely because we refused an ILUA and they have tried to override us."

But Adani's cunning stunt backfired. They hadn't counted on their 150 voters changing their minds after impassioned speeches from the likes of Burragubba. W&J tribal elders are deeply concerned about the effect of the mine on their cultural heritage and the risks it poses to water and wildlife.

By the end of the day, Adani's reps had been asked to leave the meeting. Of the W&J's 12 "new applicants", or claim representatives, at least seven were against Adani, despite all the money flying about to skew the vote, and three were in favour. The views of the other two appear in the balance….

Its latest public missive on the subject came three days before the W&J meeting: "Adani deepens partnership with Traditional Owners."

As far as W&J are concerned nothing could be further from the mark. While Adani has signed up ILUAs with other Indigenous groups – the Juru, Birriah and Jangga Aboriginal people – whose land lies either on the rail corridors from the Galilee or on the coast at Abbot Point where the coal is to be shipped to India, there is only a draft memorandum of understanding intended for the W&J, and one which is not representative of the majority of families at that.

It is getting messy. W&J now has a claim before the Federal Court alleging Adani misled the W&J people. The Native Title Tribunal and the state of Queensland are also listed as defendants for failing to properly follow process…..

NITV, 1 April 2016:

In a stunning video, traditional owners Aunty Carol Prior and Andrew Morrell call on the Queensland government to protect their cultural heritage from the Adani Carmichael coalmine in the Galilee Basin.

Juru country sits to the east of the proposed mine, but the existing Abbot Point coal port resides on the Juru coast. This means the proposed rail line linking the mine and Abbot Point will go right through Juru country.

Traditional owners say the rail line will block access to ancient rock art sites and ochre ground near Mount Roadback, and an expansion of Abbot Point will be built just five metres from sacred burial grounds.

They’ve created a petition calling on the Queensland government to register their cultural sites under the Queensland Cultural Heritage Act as ‘significant Aboriginal areas.’

Green Left Weekly, 16 February 2018:

The Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) traditional owners of the land on which Adani has approval to build its Carmichael coalmine are concerned that the Queensland government will act to extinguish their native title rights prior to a Federal Court hearing scheduled for March 12–15.

This follows the decision by the Federal Court to not extend an interim injunction, which had been in place since December 18, restraining the Queensland government from extinguishing native title under the terms of the purported Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA).

The W&J traditional owners have never consented to the mine going ahead. They say the group has voted four times since 2012 to reject an ILUA with Adani, most recently on 2 December.

On December 8 the Native Title Tribunal registered Adani’s ILUA documents. The validity of the purported ILUA is being challenged by W&J Traditional Owners in a Federal Court hearing scheduled for March. It will consider evidence that the meeting that is claimed to have authorised the ILUA was stacked with people who had no authority to authorise a deal and sign away W&J country.

Adrian Burragubba, Murrawah Johnson and Linda Bobongie for the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners Family Council said: “A substantial injustice may be done if we are denied an appeal and the interim injunction is lifted before the trial.

Nothing can hide the facts that Adani has worked to divide our community, overturn our decisions, buy off individuals, split our claim group and engineer a sham meeting to ‘authorise’ a sham ILUA. And the Queensland government has aided and abetted them. This deal is illegitimate and should never have gone through.

“The Queensland Labor government has the power to do something about this, and it’s time they did!

“If we cannot restrain Adani with an injunction, then the Queensland Government must hear loud and clear that our land rights and culture cannot be surrendered for Adani’s profit.

“For us, this campaign has never just been about Adani. It has always been about protecting and conserving our land and culture so we can determine our own path forward for our people. One based on strong respect for our law and culture, the health of our Country and a resilient community — and clean enterprises and jobs in the new growth industries like solar energy generation.”

In a 24 May 2018 the Federal Court of Australia ruled that the Juru People themselves had not agreed that Kyburra Munda Yalga Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC should replace Juru Enterprises Limited as the nominated body negotiating an agreement with Adani Australia Pty Ltd. At time of judgment Kyburra Munda Yalga Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC was under administration.

The Guardian, 22 June 2018:

A north Queensland Indigenous organisation kept secret more than $2m in payments by the Adani mining company, federal court documents show.

Guardian Australia has obtained court documents that show the Kyburra Munda Yalga Aboriginal Corporation did not account for payments by Adani, then paid its own directors up to $1,000 a day cash-in-hand to conduct now-invalidated cultural heritage assessments for the Indian mining company.

The federal court last month delivered a ruling that may void the assessments, which are required to protect sacred sites from development.

It ruled that another Indigenous business, Juru Enterprises Limited, was the proper “nominated body” to represent traditional owners on a land-use agreement with Adani.

The impact of the decision could be wide-ranging. Traditional owners from near Bowen say they are “hugely worried” Adani has conducted work at its Abbot Point port based on improper or conflicted advice from the cultural assessment surveys.
Juru Enterprises could now demand Adani “redesign or reconfigure” any plans or works near sacred sites.

The court case has also exposed how Adani funding was central to alleged rorts conducted by Kyburra board members. Guardian Australia has seen letters, minutes of meetings, police reports, auditors reports and sworn affidavits that detail how Kyburra kept money paid by Adani off the books and then funnelled it to directors through “fees” and “loans”.

Kyburra declared only $50,000 total income in consecutive years: 2014/2015 and 2015/16. About $2m was paid to the organisation by Adani in 2014 and 2015, including an estimated $800,000 for cultural assessments. But none of it showed up in Kyburra’s annual financial statements.

Traditional owners said in a 2016 complaint letter they were suspicious about “secret payments by Adani”.

The issue before the federal court was whether Kyburra validly appointed itself as the Juru nominated body to represent traditional owners on a land-use agreement with Adani. The Indian company filed a notice submitting to any order the court might make, except as to costs.

Adani has rejected suggestions it should have been aware of mismanagement at Kyburra and alleged rorts by directors, and there is no suggestion the payments themselves were improper. The company said it was only made aware of “financial matters” through the court proceedings.

Guardian Australia can reveal that both the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (Oric) and the Australian federal police were aware of concerns about Kyburra in 2015 and 2016….

In 2016, a lawyer representing disgruntled members of Kyburra wrote to Oric asking for an investigation into the organisation. The letter was also submitted to the court in the proceedings but not tendered at hearing.

It outlined what Oric later confirmed in an audit – that Kyburra failed to declare significant income each year from land-use agreements, including the lucrative deal with Adani. By declaring only $50,000 annual income, the organisation was exempted from having to provide audited financial statements. Money from Adani, notionally “for the benefit and use of the Juru people”, was not accounted for.

 “In our submission Kyburra actually received monies from Adani Mining Pty Ltd ... in the amount of $1,225,000. In addition ... Adani transferred $825,000 to Kyburra for cultural heritage survey activities,” the letter says.

“Further, our clients advise that the surveys are conducted by directors alone – about six directors would be present at any survey – with a daily rate of approximately $1,000 paid individually to them.

 “Our clients are suspicious of similar secret payments by Adani on behalf of Kyburra.”…..

Morrell[ traditional owner] told Guardian Australia on Monday he could not explain why Kyburra moved in 2015 to replace Juru Enterprises as the “nominated body” representing the Juru people on a land use agreement with Adani. He also questioned why Adani had simply accepted the switch.

 “I really could not tell you that one. That one really has me baffled.”

He said the court ruling meant any work carried out by Kyburra for Adani had “not been carried out under the agreements” and was voided.

“We’re happy to do the work again. Kyburra and Adani have never forwarded or allowed anyone to see any of the work being carried out, any of the reports on the work being carried out. That’s left all the Juru people wondering what was going on.

“We’ll work with them, but everything that has been done will need to be revised and reviewed and we haven’t had the opportunity to do that yet……

“We’re hugely worried. Throughout the state development area at Abbot Point alone there’s numerous places where we have burial sites, rock art, rock carvings, sacred sites. If any of those areas are being impacted they need to have that impact removed from that area.