Thehas officially recognised the native title rights of First Peoples around the sunshine coast in South East Queensland.
Native title formally recognises First Nations people’s rights and interests to land and waters according to traditional customs and law.
This week’s ruling acknowledges the rights of the Kabi Kabi people over more than 365,000 hectares around the Sunshine Coast.
Native title
Native title is recognised over more than 32% of Australia’s landmass, according to the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
When it’s granted, native title protects and preservesconnection to specific locations, including the right to camp, hunt, use water, hold meetings, perform ceremonies and burials.
It doesn’t override non-Indigenous peoples’ access to public land and other legal interests, like land ownership and corporate activities.
Kabi Kabi People
The traditional lands of the Kabi Kabi People stretch from northern Brisbane to Buxton, including Gympie, the Glass House Mountains, and Noosa.
A group of Kabi Kabi Traditional Owners filed a court application for formal recognition and rights in South East Queensland in 2013.
Processes of evidence-gathering and mediation proceedings followed, before Federal Court hearings were launched in 2019.
Closing statements were delivered in the Federal Court this week.
Lawyer Michael Allbrook represented the Kabi Kabi people.
Your contribution ensures The Daily Aus can continue doing the work you love.
I want to give $10 monthly to help TDA keep doing the news.
Your details:
Allbrook noted the “thousands of years” First Nations ancestors “cared for country” and gathered for “song, ceremony, and trade,” on Kabi Kabi lands.
“This Court determination will preserve, protect and recognise… that the Sunshine Coast clearly was, and remains, Kabi Kabi country,” he said.
Judgement
In a decision handed down this week, the court acknowledged the connection between the Kabi Kabi People. Its ruling recognises native title across 365,000 hectares of lands and waters in Qld.
Chief Justice Berna Collier noted native title does not allow Traditional Owners exclusive “possession, occupation, use or enjoyment”.
For example, if native title is recognised at a public park, First Nations people can use the area for traditional activities alongside recreational park-goers.
Response
Kabi Kabi Traditional Owner Michael Douglas said the ruling “recognises” and “empowers us all.”
Qld South Native Title Services (QSNTS) is a Government-funded agency that provides legal and advocacy support to local First Nations people.
QSNTS CEO Tim Wishart called the ruling a “milestone” for the Kabi Kabi people, who he said have maintained their culture “despite the dreadful effects of the colonisation process and the urbanisation of much of their Country.”
Theoversees laws regulating state land.
Resources Minister Scott Stewart said native title “is a vital step… towards reconciliation”.
“The Kabi Kabi People have such a rich and vibrant history in the area and such a deep and intrinsic connnection to the land,” he said.
