Issue 10 - National Native Title Tribunal

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Pipeline accord brings ninetraditional owner groupstogetherThe construction of a 390-kilometre gaspipeline between Moranbah in centralQueensland and Townsville will getunder way this month following thefinalisation late last year of threeindigenous land use agreements (ILUAs).The ILUAs—agreed between nine traditionalowner groups along the path of the pipelinearound the Bowen Basin and the NorthQueensland Gas Pipeline Project—wereregistered with the Tribunal in Decemberafter 14 months of negotiations.The nine groups include the Barada BarnaKabalbara and Yetimarla, Wiri, the InlandNebo Group, Jangga, Birri, Kudjala, Juru,Bindal, and Wulgurukaba peoples.At a celebration event in Townsville on 21January, pipeline project representative MrPaul Maloney thanked the traditional ownergroups for their ‘constant commitment tothe negotiations’.‘The project ispleased withthe positiveoutcome for allparticipants,’ hesaid.Traditional owner negotiators said theagreements showed ‘what Aboriginal peopleand developers can do when they sit downtogether and negotiate directly with eachother’.One of the outcomes of the negotiation wasa separate cultural heritage managementplan that requires all workers on the projectto undertake induction training about thenine traditional owner groups. Allconstruction workers will view a video inwhich elders explain the need for respect fortraditional land and country.Tribunal member Mr Graham Fletcher, whoassisted the groups with the ILUA processThe traditional owners’ combined negotiatingteam, Enertrade joint venture team and Tribunalrepresentatives meet in Townsville to formalisethe three indigenous land use agreements.and development of the plan, said theagreements provided social and economicbenefits for the traditional owners andassurances that cultural heritage would notbe adversely affected by the pipeline’sconstruction.‘By working together cooperatively thegroups have developed relationships thatcan be built upon in the future,’ he said.Regional heritage agreementsto help reduce WA backlogAboriginal, mining and governmentrepresentatives in Western Australiahave reached regional agreements tohelp to reduce the backlog of miningtenement applications in the state whileensuring respect and protection forAboriginal heritage.The agreements are the result of thecollaborative approach of the HeritageProtection Working Group (HPWG) whichwas set up by the WA Government in July2002 in response to recommendations ofthe government’s Technical Taskforce onMineral Tenements and Land TitleApplications.The taskforce released a report in November2001 identifying how the backlog ofmineral tenements and land titleapplications could be dealt with moreefficiently while protecting Indigenouspeople’s native title rights.Tribunal member Mr Bardy McFarlanefacilitated the Heritage Protection WorkingGroup which comprised representatives ofthe mining industry, native titlerepresentative bodies and stategovernment agencies.The Tribunal convened more than 100negotiation meetings, and agreements arenow in place in the Goldfields and SouthWest regions. An agreement has also beenreached in the Yamatji and Pilbara regions,with individual native title claimantgroups to be consulted before it isfinalised.Mr McFarlane said an agreement was closeto finalisation in the Ngaanyatjarra regionand discussions were still ongoing in theKimberley region.‘I acknowledge and congratulate the nativetitle representative bodies, miningindustry and the state government for theirperseverance in working together to tacklethese complex issues and producingworkable solutions,’ Mr McFarlane said.Buildingrespectfor culturalheritageMs Christine George, a Wulgurukaba womanfrom Magnetic Island off Townsville in northQueensland, has been appointed culturalheritage induction trainer for the NorthQueensland Gas Project. This meanstraining every worker on the project aboutthe importance of respecting the traditionalcountry of the nine Indigenous groups alongthe pipeline.‘The information (being presented) has to bethe correct information about artefacts andsignificant sites and the cultural landscape,’she said. ‘I’m confident that people willrespect the information they receive.‘It’s the law now and the cultural heritagemanagement plan outlines what willhappen to staff who disregard it. (Workers)have to develop that respect for all thecultural heritage issues.’As part of the agreed cultural heritage plan,Aboriginal monitors will be working alongthe pipeline to ensure sites are respected andprotected.page 6
Left to right: NT Minister for Mines and EnergyKon Vatskalis, Northern Land Council CEO NormanFry, president of Sweetpea Corporation Thomas ADugan and petroleum consultant (KEXCO) BillKahla at Parliament House in Darwin.NT’s first petroleum nativetitle agreement signedIt took almost three years ofnegotiations but traditional owners andinternational petroleum explorerSweetpea Corporation have hailed as asuccess their agreement that enablesSweetpea to explore 14,000 squarekilometres of land in the NewcastleWaters region of the Northern Territory.It is the first petroleum native title agreementto be mediated in the Northern Territory andaccording to the Northern Land Council(NLC) which negotiated on behalf of 13groups of traditional owners, it sets outparameters for exploration and production,including safeguards for the environmentand sacred sites.The 13 groups of traditional owners are fromlanguage groups including Mudburra,Jingili, Wampaya, Gurdanji, Mangarrayi andYangman people. On their behalf, the NLCalso reached an agreement with explorationcompany Pardi Pty Ltd over land adjacent toSweetpea Corporation’s site.The Tribunal convened a series of meetingsto facilitate negotiations between parties tothe Sweetpea agreement between October2002 and April 2003 following a requestfrom the company for mediation assistance.Tribunal Deputy President Mr ChristopherSumner, who facilitated mediation, said theagreement demonstrated what resourcecompanies and Indigenous groups couldachieve under the Native Title Act if theytalked through issues with the aim ofreaching an agreement.‘Resource industries and native title claimantgroups are becoming increasingly aware thatagreement-making and relationshipbuilding [are] the best way forward,’ he said.‘Parties to the Sweetpea agreement carriedout substantive negotiations themselves andthe Tribunal encourages other groups to takea similar approach.’NLC chief executive Mr Norman Fry said theagreements would act as templates for otherpetroleum explorers interested in the searchfor hydrocarbons in the Northern Territory’ssedimentary basins.‘The native title petroleum agreements arethe first ever signed in the NLC’s area and itis to both companies’ credit that they wantednative title issues solved ahead ofexploration,’ he said.Vice president of Sweetpea Corporation MrMalcolm Gerrard said negotiation was theonly path to take. ‘We’ve achieved our goaland achieved the granting of permits and ifother operators want to investigate areas inthe NT they should take this path.’Mr Gerrard said the lengthiness of theprocess had been a concern as they hadapplied for exploration permits inNovember 2000 and had expected the grantswithin three to six months but ‘native titlehad intervened’.However he said during the three years ofnegotiations the company had developed agood working relationship with the partiesthat would assist with their futurediscussions with the Aboriginal groups.‘As part of the outcome of getting anagreement, our camaraderie with the NLChas been strengthened. With ourcamaraderie there’ll be a betterunderstanding of our goals and of those ofthe NLC and the claimants.’NT Minister for Mines and Energy Mr KonVatskalis said: ‘Sweetpea has clearly shownnegotiation with traditional land owners isthe way forward for the petroleum industry,and in securing this agreement, has pavedthe way for future deals through the right tonegotiate process.’Waiting continues on SA’s test caseSouth Australian pastoralists and nativetitle claimants are yet to learn whetherimprovements to pastoral leasesextinguish native title.On 16 December the Full Federal Courtdeferred its decision on whether a native titleclaimant group from the YankunytjatjaraPeople in South Australia had native titlerights and interests over De Rose Hill station(see story in Talking Native Title, June 2003).The Full Court was ruling on an appealbrought by the Aboriginal Legal RightsMovement (ALRM) on behalf of the nativetitle applicants against Justice O’Loughlin’searlier decision on 1 November 2002. In thatdecision, the claimant group was found tohave lost connection to the claimed area andtherefore native title was not recognised.The Full Court found that Justice O’Loughlinhad not applied the correct legal test whenhe decided the case.The court also said it needed furthersubmissions from the parties before it coulddecide whether the claimants had lost theirconnection to the area through ceasing topractise their traditional laws and customson the lands.A decision on whether improvements toSouth Australian pastoral leases extinguishednative title was not made as the court believedthat the connection issue should be addressedfirst.The Yankunytjatjara People’s claim is viewedas a test case in South Australia as it isexpected to clarify questions about traditionalconnection and the survival of native title onpastoral leases in the state.The Full Federal Court is to receive furthersubmissions from the parties before it handsdown its decision.page 7
Page 2 and 3: Tribunal President,Mr Graeme NeateQ
Page 4 and 5: Mervyn Mulardy Jnr of the Karajarri
Page 8: INSIDE INFORMATIONTribunal shares g

Issue 10 - National Native Title Tribunal

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