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#AceNewsRoom With ‘Kindness & Wisdom’ June.16, 2022 @acebreakingnews
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#AceBreakingNews – Daisy Tjuparntarri Ward leans forward in her camp chair as a young man in black robes starts to speak: From a table on a lake bed, cracked and dry from the Gibson Desert sun, judge’s associate Jared Hee delivers the speech Ms Ward fought 20 years to hear.
” Orders have been made to determine native title in favour of the Pila Nature Reserve traditional owners,” he says, reading the words of Federal Court Justice Craig Colvin who could not attend Wednesday’s ceremony
Ms Ward’s face splits into a wide grin…………………….After decades of disappointment she, and other traditional owners of the 19,000 square kilometre reserve, have had their land rights formally published in law.
About 80 traditional owners, government and legal representatives gathered at a sacred site called Mina Mina on the reserve, which is nearly 2,000 kilometres north-east of Perth.
After finishing his speech, Mr Hee handed printed copies of the native title determination to traditional owners, who joyfully posed with them for photos.
“My old people there, they are happy because the land was given back to us,” Ms Ward said.
“It’s really, really, really sad. And then now, it’s really happy.
” H-A-P-P-Y happy!”
But the celebration will echo far beyond the rust-red roads of the Gibson Desert.
The native title determination is the first in the nation to be made using a new law, which may renew hope in those who lost it long ago.
A long battle for recognition
Recognising land rights on the Pila Nature Reserve seemed almost impossible in the early 2000s.
An earlier High Court ruling had set a devastating precedent — that native title could not be recognised on vested (held by government) reserves.
That meant when the Ngaanyatjarraku Lands claim was determined in 2005, the connecting Pila Nature Reserve was excluded.
So began a long and arduous journey to see those rights restored by another legal means, resulting in blow after blow for traditional owners.
But hope was reignited last year in the form of an amendment to the Native Title Act.
The change — known as 47C — paved a way for traditional owners to overcome the precedent set all those years ago and have their land rights recognised on nature reserves and national parks.
Setting a new ‘precedent’
Malcolm O’Dell, the principal legal officer at Central Desert Native Title Services, said people around Australia would be heartened to know the law worked.
“It’s significant [because] anywhere it can apply, and that’s probably right across Australia, it allows for native title to be recognised in circumstances where previously it couldn’t be,” he said.
“I know that people in other [native title organisations] have been waiting to see this outcome and will be using it, I think, as a precedent to work with their state governments to get a similar outcome.”
But the new law has some unique caveats.
It requires that traditional owners still occupy the land they are claiming rights to, and that the state government is on board when the application for native title is made.
In this case the government has opted to have the land jointly vested between it and traditional owners.
The latter will be represented by the Warnpurru Aboriginal Corporation as the two work together on a joint management plan.
“[The joint vesting] is really important because it does mean the government can provide funds and assist all that land management activity,” Mr O’Dell said.
“People love managing and looking after their own country and it does give them some way of doing so, which means they can be gainfully employed.”
A settlement package has set aside $7.5 million over 10 years to support joint management activities, such as creating ranger programs and tourism offerings on the remote country.
‘No more land grabbing’
Traditional owners were invited to speak after the ceremony at the Mina Mina sacred site.
Many described their joy at having their land rights finally written into law, but also the toll the journey had taken.
Ms Ward was emotional, saying so many people who were part of the fight had passed away.
But she was optimistic about the future.
“Today I felt real good, because my time of the pain, the agony and the longing for, has finalised, finally,” she said.
“It’s our dad’s, my sister’s country, my grandmother’s country.
“I am really happy for what’s been given to us and, at the same time when we need to work with the government, we still need to work together, like black and white together.”
Valerie Ward, who has long been part of the effort, held the printed copy of the native title determination and said she was happy.
“This is mine,” she said, hitting the document with her hand.
“I’m going to put it up in the house now.”
But another traditional owner just hoped lessons had been learnt.
“I’m glad to see that finally the state and federal have come to terms, getting rid of their own guilt of stealing the land from the Aboriginal people of this land,” the man said.
“And I say to you now, for the future to come, this land will always be the owner’s land.
“Today and forever until the end of time.”
“So let it be — no more land grabbing.”
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