Big claim coming through
Most of WA’s Kimberly region will soon fall under native title.
More than 34,000 square kilometres of the Kimberley is on the path to receive native title recognition by the Federal Court, after three separate determinations this week.
The Kimberly Land Council says its claim applies to about 93.5 per cent of the region, mostly in the state's sparsely populated north.
Dozens of people gathered at Moola Bulla Station, near Halls Creek, for the determination of the Ngarrawanji native title claim this week.
The court then travelled further to the community of Warmun, in the East Kimberly, where the determinations for the Malarngowem and Yurriyangem Taam claims will be delivered.
A ceremony is planned to acknowledge the Goorring decision, which occurred in Perth late last year.
Justice Debra Mortimer said in her judgment for the Ngarrawanji people that the process had taken far too long, with just two of the 11 original members of the claim group still alive to see its conclusion.
“They will be present in the minds of all those who listen to the making of the court's orders, and their contribution will be acknowledged and remembered, but the tragedy of their absence remains,” she said.