Great Southern Noongar leaders celebrate historic moment in South West Native Title Settlement

Great Southern Noongar leaders who have fought for decades to negotiate the ground-breaking South West Native Title Settlement celebrated its official start last week, but say the hard work still lies ahead to deliver the vision. February 25 will be remembered as an historic day for WA’s Noongar people, marking the settlement’s effective date for the six Indigenous Land Use Agreements. Since official negotiations started in 2010, years of court appeals have slowed the settlement; however, payments will now start to be made to the Noongar Boodja Trust to support the self-determination of the South West’s approximately 30,000 Noongar people. As part of the settlement, all native title claims in the South West will be resolved in exchange for 320,000 hectares of development and cultural land to be owned and managed by the Noongar people. It will also see the Noongar Boodja Trust receive yearly instalments of $50 million for 12 years, reaching a total of about $1.3 billion. Albany’s Glen Colbung has been pushing for a native title deal since the 1990s, when he shared his vision for Noongar communities to combine their claims to bypass the native title legal system and pursue settlements directly with the WA Government. Mr Colbung said the funds needed to be well managed going forward to build a strong, independent economic base for the future of the Noongar people. “It’s not about us today ... it’s about putting in place economic and social structures for future generations,” he said. “If we think it is hard now, it is going to be a lot harder in the future so we need to put in place the structures that will take care of our young people. “There’s been some roadblocks but we’ve certainly overcome those and it is full steam ahead.” Mr Colbung said he hoped the settlement would fund programs for Noongar youth and job-creating business projects managed by Aboriginal corporations. “We need programs set up where youth can benefit, not so much getting handouts, but set up programs where they can do things that help the community ... it can give them alternatives instead of getting involved in drugs,” he said. Reflecting on her involvement in the campaign, Menang traditional owner Carol Pettersen recalled her great-uncle Tommy King writing to Queen Victoria in the 1800s calling for the return of his land. “You are Queen of your country and I am King of my country — I want you to give me back my land,” he said. Ms Pettersen has been working across various roles to help negotiate the settlement for decades. “Given that we’ve been working towards this for 25 years you can imagine the feeling is one of overwhelming gratitude for all the hard work that has been done from both our own people, the government departments and our State Government to bring us to this level,” she said. Ms Pettersen said the fund would create a “framework of opportunities” for Noongar people, including infrastructure projects. “There will be opportunities for us Noongar people to sit at the head of the table,” she said. Six Noongar Regional Corporations will be established to represent the the six ILUA groups, with Albany represented in the Wagyl Kaip and Southern Noongar ward. Great Southern man Laurence Riley was last month elected as the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council director for Wagyl Kaip and Southern Noongar to implement the settlement and help create a “brighter future” for Noongar people. “There has been a lot of hard work, sacrifice and commitment in getting the deal this far, and I give my undertaking to give every effort in seeing the vision of my old people brought to life,” he said. “The deal may not be what some people hoped to receive but it’s all we have right now, and if strategically implemented, all Noongar people and communities will benefit from what’s available to them.” SWALSC chairperson Vanessa Kickett said directors would work hard to ensure the vision their elders fought so hard for would be delivered for the benefit of all Noongar people. “The path to date has brought many challenges, but the Noongar people remain focused on honouring the vision of the ancestors, elders and Noongar communities, whose guidance and dignity inspire the up-and-coming leaders of the community to be strong and proud,” she said. “While it is sad that many of those elders have passed before they were able to see the agreement implemented, we will do everything we can to honour their vision and their memory.”