Australians have lost access to large parts of Victoria after three aboriginal groups were given native title rights over thousands of square kilometres bordering New South Wales and South Australia.
The Federal Court’s determination gave the Ngintait, Latji Latji and Nyeri Nyeri peoples and the First People of the Millewa-Mallee Aboriginal Corporation exclusive and non-exclusive land rights over the northwestern tip of the state.
The Friday ruling was the first exclusive rights determination in Victoria and means anyone else seeking to access the exclusive native title areas will be required to seek permission from the so-called traditional owners.
Farms, roads, public spaces, campgrounds, and waterways used for recreational boating or fishing will not be affected, nor will areas with existing title, and the Millewa-Mallee have agreed to negotiate access to some Crown land, such as national parks, that falls within the area, ABC News reported.
The native title area includes the town of Mildura, Murray-Sunset National Park, Apex Park Sandbar, and Kings Billabong Park, where Federal Court Justice Elizabeth Bennett presented the determination to indigenous elder Auntie Janine Wilson on Friday Morning.
Applicant members Nyeri Nyeri Elder Wendy Brahbam, Latji Latji man Shane Jones Snr, and Ngintait man Timothy Johnson told the National Indigenous Times the three aboriginal groups had been involved in mediation going back 10 years.
“As a Latji Latji man, I am proud that our rights and interests are formally recognised on the lands where my ancestors lived. Alongside all ‘first peoples’ of the Millewa-Mallee, including the Ngintait and Nyeri Nyeri peoples, we continue to live our culture,” Mr Jones said.
“With native title, our present and future generations can continue the legacy of all our elders and emerging elders.”
Justice Bennett said in her judgement that the native title holders and their predecessors had suffered “dispossession and other atrocities”, but had “maintained their traditional laws and customs and have under them a deep and enduring connection to the country of the Application Area”, which she called a “testament to the strength and commitment” of them and their ancestors.
She wrote that the State of Victoria acknowledged “that this recognition of native title is evidence that from time immemorial, the First Peoples of the Millewa-Mallee and their ancestors have practised their traditional laws and customs, and nurtured their Country and been cared for by it, through their spiritual, cultural, material and economic connections to land, water and resources in the area”.
Senior lawyer Stacey Little from First Nations Legal & Research Services, which represented the applicants, said the determination was a “testament to their strength and persistence”.
“The First Peoples of the Millewa-Mallee and their ancestors have always been connected to their country by their traditional laws and customs, despite the devastating impacts of colonisation,” she said.
Header image: Left, Wendy Brabham and Shane Jones Snr (First Nations Legal & Research Services). Right, Justice Elizabeth Bennett after the determination (Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations).
