Aborignal tribes have secured native title rights over a vast tract of sea north of Australia after a nine-year legal battle. It is the largest native title sea claim in the country’s history — covering 40,000km² — and formally recognizes the Torres Strait islanders’ spiritual ties to the sea.
The Torres Strait sits between Australia’s northern tip of Cape York and Papua New Guinea and consists of more than 250 islands, most of which are recognized as part of the Australian state of Queensland.
The ruling means that while ships, commercial fishermen and other businesses will still be able to operate in the strait, any future development on the islands can only go ahead after consultation with indigenous groups.
JUBILATION
There were jubilant scenes after the judgment, with islanders bursting into song in the courtroom in Cairns, Queensland, and performing a traditional dance outside.
Sharon Phineasa, whose late grandfather Phillip Bigie was one of the original parties to the claim, first lodged in court in 2001, said she was proud to see his dream realized.
“It is sad that a lot of the original elders have passed on, but I’m so proud to represent them here today,” she told Australian Associated Press (AAP) outside the court.
Robert Blowes, lawyer for the Torres Strait regional authority, said the ruling was historic.
“There are some native title claims over sea areas, but they mostly cover areas just offshore and in and around islands, whereas this is a large expanse of sea,” he told ABC news.
MARITIME CULTURE
Blowes said the ruling reflected the islanders’ maritime culture, recognized their traditional ties to the sea and guaranteed them access to its resources.
Seaman Dan, an indigenous songwriter from the Torres Strait, said the decision was “a step in the right direction.”
“We’ve been there for a long time, we live by the sea and it is an important part of our lives,” he told AAP.
Native title rights were established for Aborigines in 1992 when the high court ruled that the British claim in 1788 that Australia was a terra nullius, or “land belonging to no one,” when it was discovered was wrong, and that a form of native title should be recognized.
An essential element of the historic title claim, known as Mabo, was proof that the claimants had maintained connections with their land and carried out traditional practices on it since the European invasion.
Since then, mining companies and other industries have often had to negotiate with tribes for the right to work on some land.
At the same time the Torres Strait ruling was made on Friday, the Australian government released a discussion paper on changing the Native Title Act.
It suggests much stricter rules to oversee native title payments from mining companies to Aboriginal communities to ensure they are not squandered.
However, indigenous leaders and native title experts have criticized the plans as paternalistic and racist.
“I do have concerns about another layer of bureaucracy, another layer of expenditure which is going into bureaucracy that should be going to indigenous people,” said Warren Mundine, chief executive officer of New South Wales Native Title Service Corp.
“And I do have concerns in governments micromanaging indigenous people,” he said.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese