Manado (on behalf of the Bindunbur Native Title Claim Group) v State of Western Australia [2019] FCA 30

Northern Western Australia, north of Broome

Registered with the National Native Title Tribunal on the Native Title Register 13 February 2019.

Between: Ernest Damien Manado and others on behalf of the Bindunbur Native Title Claim Group (Applicant) and the State of Western Australia (Respondent)

Judge: Robertson J

Determination

Native title exists in the entire determination area

It consists of exclusive and non-exclusive native title rights and interests.

Native title holders

Jabirr Jabirr/Ngumbarl People

Exclusive native title rights and interests over all of the determination area

This is the right to possession, occupation, use, and enjoyment of the area, described in Schedule 1, to the exclusion of all others.

Other rights and interests in the determination area include:

• the rights and interests Telstra would ordinarily have over any land, resulting from the Post and Telegraph Act 1901 (Cth), the Telecommunications Act 1975 (Cth), the Australian Telecommunications Corporation Act 1989 (Cth), the Telecommunications Act 1991 (Cth) and the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth), including the right to do work on its facilities in and around the area;
• any rights of other parties created by the Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914 (WA), and the Aboriginal Communities Act 1979 (WA); and
• the government's rights to access the land to carry out administrative government business.
  

See Schedule 3 for further information about the non-native title rights and interests.

In the case of conflict, the exercise of non-native title rights and interests will prevail over the non-exclusive native title

The Gogolanyngor Aboriginal Corporation Registered Native Title Body Corporate (RNTBC) is the prescribed body corporate. It performs the functions required under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) and holds the native title in trust for the Jabirr Jabirr/Ngumbarl People.

Full text of the determination is available via the URL link above.

Background

The area over which the Jabirr Jabirr/Ngumbarl People' native title was recognised had been contested in a number of previous court proceedings, and had also been the subject of civil protests (O'Neill 2019). In the earlier Bindunbur #1, the Federal Court found that another group, the Goolarabooloo family, could not make a native title claim over the area (Hirini 2017). The Bindunbur #2 application was made to determine the Jabirr Jabirr/Ngumbarl People's native title over an area within Bindunbur #1 but not determined there.

Details of Judgment

It was argued by the Applicants that this determination should be decided the same way as Bindunbur #1 [3,6]. The determination is only slightly different because of different circumstances surrounding Bindunbur #2 compared to the original Bindunbur determination.

One difference was the area of land covered. Another was that there were no opposing title claims from other traditional owners nor from any companies or settled residents [19, 24]. This made Bindunbur #2 more straightforward to resolve.

The process of reaching the agreement had been well-documented and well-formed, with neither the State nor the Bindunbur Native Title Claim Group raising any substantial issues during the proceedings [33, 34]. For that reason, Robertson J made orders that the Jabirr Jabirr/Ngumbarl People's native title rights and interests could be recognised by consent without the need for a hearing [29, 30, 35].

Native title exists in the entire determination area

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References

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