McKerracher J
In this decision, McKerracher J recognised the native title rights and interests of the Jurruru people in relation the land and waters covering approximately 10,066 square kilometres in the Ashburton area north east of Carnarvon in the Pilbara region. The claim was first filed on 14 July 2000 but has been substantially amended, including the replacement of the applicant on 16 January 2012. The respondent parties included the State of Western Australia, Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation, Bambi Pty Ltd, Cheela Plains Pastoral Co Pty Ltd, Stamco Beef Pty Ltd and various individual pastoralists.
The parties agreed to a determination in relation to part of the land and waters covered by the Jurruru application, with no determination to be made at present in relation to those areas of the Jurruru Application which are overlapped by native title determination application WAD 6173 of 1998 (Gobawarrah Minduarra Yinhawanga Application).
All of the pastoralists, except Bambi Pty Ltd, agreed to the terms of the determination having reached agreements with the Jurruru people in relation to the portions of their particular leases situated in the Determination Area, which will be executed and lodged for registration as Indigenous Land Use Agreements.
The order was made under s 87A of the Native Title Act (‘NTA’) as no determination was made in relation to the land and waters which are overlapped by a native title application from Gobawarrah Minduarra Yinhawanga peoples.
Rights and Interests recognised
The native title rights and interests recognised in relation to the land and waters are the non-exclusive rights to:
enter and remain on the land, camp, erect temporary shelters, and travel over and visit any part of the land and waters;
hunt, fish, gather, take and use the traditional resources of the land;
take and use water;
engage in cultural activities including:
visiting places of cultural or spiritual importance and maintaining, caring for, and protecting those places by carrying out activities to preserve their physical or spiritual integrity; and
conducting ceremony and ritual; and
be accompanied by those people who, though not Jurruru people,are:
spouses, parents or descendants of one or more Jurruru person; or
people required by traditional law and custom for the performance of ceremonies or cultural activities.
In his judgment, McKerracher J noted at [16] that the Jurruru traditional laws and customs which connect them to their country were believed to have been passed on to the people by the ancestral beings when the world was created and the current physical features of their land were shaped. These laws are binding on the Jurruru people and have been handed down through their descendants as well as recorded by the ancestral beings in rock engravings. The Jurruru people speak a common Jurruru language.
The Court was satisfied that it should make the orders agreed to by the parties. Justice McKerracher noted at [42] that both the State and the Jurruru people had legal representation, as did the other parties and the State had satisfied itself of the evidence proving connection to country and the maintenance of the Jurruru people’s presence in the area since British sovereignty.
The Jurruru Aboriginal Corporation shall hold the native title in trust.
In relation to the undetermined area, the Court ordered that the matter be listed for directions.