Australia's largest native title settlement, worth about $1.3 billion, has been officially accepted for registration, more than three years after a deal was struck to resolve claims in the state's South West.
Key points:
- The settlement incorporates six claims covering an area from Jurien to Ravensthorpe
- The deal was signed in 2015, but has taken three years to be registered
- Last year it overcame a challenge in the Federal Court
The step formalises a land use agreement between Noongar people and the West Australian Government and covers an area from Jurien in the north to Ravensthorpe in the south.
Six Indigenous land use agreements (ILUAs) covering 200,000 square kilometres of land were today formally accepted for incorporation by the Native Title Registrar.
Together, the agreements represent the largest settlement of native title in Australian history, affecting more than 30,000 people.
Under the deal struck in 2015, a perpetual trust — the Noongar Boodja Trust — will receive $600 million over 12 years.
The trust will manage up to 320,000 hectares of land for development and cultural purposes.
Other parts of the deal include a capital works program and a Noongar Land Fund, set to receive up to $47 million over 10 years.
The South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC), which represented six claimant groups in the negotiations, welcomed the decision.
"We are delighted with the outcomes of today's decision," SWALSC chairperson Jeanice Krakouer said in a statement.
"This is a great opportunity for Noongar people to come together, to control our own destiny, and to build a solid future for generations to come."
Negotiations on the deal began in 2009 and prompted a series of protests.
Former premier Colin Barnett eventually signed the deal on behalf of the state in June 2015.
Settlement overcomes legal hurdles
The land use agreements, which are binding legal documents, were submitted to the registrar for consideration a year ago.
In 2017, the Federal Court found five of the land use agreements were not able to be registered, because four claimants had not agreed to sign them.
Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Wyatt said the deal would be "one of the most — if not the most — significant native title settlements" in Australia's history.
"I think it's as close as we've come in Australia to a treaty between a group of traditional owners and a government," he said.
Mr Wyatt also paid tribute to the former Barnett Government, which drafted the Noongar (Koorah, Nitja, Boordahwan) (Past, Present, Future) Recognition Act 2016, the first part of the settlement.
"We couldn't get here without bipartisan support across governments," Mr Wyatt said.
There are now 28 days in which the registrar's decision may be contested via a request for a judicial review.
If no legal proceedings are lodged, Mr Wyatt estimates the trust account and land transfers will be processed within about six months.
Six Noongar Regional Corporations will be set up, along with a Central Services Corporation, at a cost of $10 million per year for 12 years.
The corporations will coordinate policy with government and other agencies, as well as manage land and promote culture.
Mr Wyatt said funding for the corporations and the trust was already set aside in the budget.
"It's had to be reprofiled a couple of times because of the delay since 2015, but it's there. It hasn't been removed," he said.
"Now it's really just, hopefully, finalising any judicial proceedings that may or may not occur and then setting up the bodies, which effectively are all ready to go."