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A long time coming': Federal Court recognises native title.

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"I NOW recognise that traditional ownership. In doing so, I bind all people for all time."

With these words Justice John Dowsett today vindicated a 20-year native title struggle on the part of our region's indigenous people.

Members of the Byellee, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng and Taribelang Bunda people had been granted official recognition of their connection with and ownership of more than 420,000ha of land and water across the Gladstone, Bundaberg and North Burnett regions.

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A gradual rush of applause, accompanied by the sound of clapsticks, broke out in the hundreds-strong crowd at the Gladstone Entertainment Convention Centre as the special hearing of the Federal Court came to a close.

Tears and hugs followed the decision, with elders and young people alike embracing each other and saying "it's finally done" and "we got there in the end".

During the hour-long hearing, the court heard how European settlement had devastated the local indigenous population - and how those families displaced by settlers and pastoralists had nevertheless managed to maintain a physical and spiritual connection with the land in question.

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The Federal Court's decision recognises the right of the Gooreng Gooreng, Byellee, Gurang and Taribelang Bunda peoples to access, hunt, fish and gather, conduct ceremonies on, teach on, and be buried within the native title claim area.

The area itself extends from south of Bundaberg up to Raglan Creek in the north, and from Monto in the west to the eastern coastline and out to sea.

With the claim area right on the doorstep of the cities of Gladstone and Bundaberg, the successful native title outcome is a rare occurrence within the native title sector nationally, according to Queensland South Native Title Services chief executive Kevin Smith.

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WHAT THE DECISION MEANS |

The Federal Courts decision means members of the Byellee, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng and Taribelang Bunda people will have non-exclusive rights to:

  • Access and travel across the land

  • Camp and build temporary shelters on the land

  • Hunt, fish and gather on the land and water

  • Take and share natural resources from the land and water

  • Participate in cultural activities in the area

  • Maintain places of importance to traditional laws and customs, and to protect those places from harm

  • Teach on the physical and spiritual attributes of the area

  • Light fires in the area for cooking, but not hunting or land clearing

  • Be buried and bury native title holders within the area

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