A remote Arnhem Land Aboriginal corporation has launched an appeal against a federal court decision, which they said made them “wards of the state”.
The Rirratjingu Aboriginal Corporation (RAC) had gone to the federal court over a long-running dispute with the Northern Land Council (NLC) about mining royalties.
As part of its statutory authority, the NLC determined the split of royalties from the Gove bauxite mine and refinery to traditional owner groups, giving 74% to the Gumatj Aboriginal corporation. Djalu Gurruwiwi from the Galpu clan, another signatory to the so-called Gove Agreement, has also lodged an appeal.
The RAC has maintained it deserved 50% and took the NLC to court, but last month Justice Mansfield dismissed the case, maintaining an earlier finding that the NLC, and not the court, had the legal right to make a determination.
The RAC said Mansfield’s judgment created a two-tiered system that blocked Indigenous groups from having the same right of dispute resolution as non-Indigenous groups.
It said the ruling made Indigenous groups “wards of the state”, and has lodged a notice of appeal to the full bench of the federal court.
Mansfield had said the RAC were free to make fresh legal claims provided those claims were within the rulings made by his decision, but the RAC appeal lodged this week has argued they were never correct.
The RAC is expected to argue Mansfield erred in its ruling on who determines traditional land owners, and in ruling that the federal court could not hear disputes about land owners.
Bakamumu Marika, chair of the RAC, said the appeal was about ensuring the Rirratjingu had self-determination over their land.
“The decision of the court was that the Rirratijingu cannot control their land, and that Land Councils – which are commonwealth bureaucracies – decide borders,” said Bakamumu.
“This is our land. We cannot let this stand. This would makes us second-class citizens in a two-class system, where traditional owners do not have the same rights to our land as other Australians do.
“The Rirratjingu should have self-determination over their land, not bureaucrats in Darwin.”
It’s anticipated there will be a directions hearing shortly, and the case will be heard before the full bench by the end of the year or early next year.
