Reeves J
In this matter, the Court made orders by consent recognising the native title rights and interests of the Bigambul People over approximately 20,000 square kilometres of land in the South Western Downs region of Queensland encompassing country watered by the Weir River and its tributaries.
The respondents to the claim were the Goondiwindi, Toowoomba and Western Downs Regional Councils, the Balonne Shire Council, Ergon Energy Corporation Ltd, Telstra Corporation Ltd and various mining and pastoral bodies.
On 18 October 2016, the Court made orders splitting the Bigambul application into Parts A and B. Bigambul Part A comprises the vast majority of the claim area, described in detail in Schedule 1 of the orders made.
Bigambul Part B comprises six lots within the claim area which the Bigambul Applicant disputes have resulted in the extinguishment of native title rights and interests under s 23B of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth). This issue is awaiting the outcome of an appeal to the Full Court from Doyle on behalf of the Iman People #2 v State of Queensland [2016] FCA 13.
The parties agreed to resolve the Bigambul application in relation to all of the Bigambul Part A portion of the claim area. As part of the determination, Reeves J expressed his grave concerns about the length of time taken to finalise the matter and noted that agreement was reached after extensive mediation, case management and expert conferences.
Rights and interests
The native title rights and interests recognised in relation to the land and waters described in Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the orders are the rights to:
other than in relation to Water, the right to possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of the area to the exclusion of all others; and
In relation to Water, the non-exclusive rights to:
hunt, fish and gather from the Water of the area;
take and use the Natural Resources of the Water in the area; and
take and use the Water of the area
for personal, domestic and non-commercial communal purposes.
In relation to the remainder of the Part A land, the native title rights and interests recognised are non-exclusive rights to:
access, be present on, move about on and travel over the area;
camp, and live temporarily on the area as part of camping, and for that purpose build temporary shelters on the area;
hunt, fish and gather on the land and waters of the area for personal, domestic and non-commercial communal purposes;
take, use, share and exchange Natural Resources from the land and waters of the area for personal, domestic and non-commercial communal purposes;
ake and use the Water of the area for personal, domestic and non-commercial communal purposes;
conduct ceremonies on the area;
be buried and bury native title holders within the area;
teach on the area the physical, cultural and spiritual attributes of the area;
maintain places of importance and areas of significance to the native title holders under their traditional laws and customs and protect those places and areas from physical harm;
light fires on the area for domestic purposes including cooking, but not for the purpose of hunting or clearing vegetation; and
be accompanied onto the area by certain non-Bigambul people, being people required for the performance of ceremonies and cultural activities.
The native title is held in trust.
The determination will take effect upon various specified agreements being registered on the Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements.
Prescribed Body Corporate
The Bigambul Native Title Aboriginal Corporation ICN No. 8479 is to be the prescribed body corporate.