Nation Building through the Noongar Native Title Settlement: reflections on the agreement how and why it came about, what's in it and what it will do

The Noongar people recently approved a global Noongar Native Title Settlement through 6 ILUA Authorisation meetings worth in excesses of $1.3 billion in land, programmes and funds. First discussed in the late 1990's, the Noongar Native Title Settlement is a vision and strategy almost 20 years in the making. Based on the ideas of nation building for the Noongar nation, the agreement is constructed in a way that maintains the important cultural and recognition aspects of native title while overcoming it's very serious limitations as a type of title. It creates a substantial Noongar land estate and what is in effect a Noongar bank, both
of which are aimed at providing a host of opportunities for Noongar people be it through cultural, social or economic means.

This presentation reflects on the strategies, the processes, the moments of joy and the extreme difficulties of bringing the agreement together.