It is being called the “pending matter” of the historic Mabo case.
Three decades after the historic decision paved the way for indigenous peoples to reclaim their lands, many First Nations peoples say the next step is simple: claim full rights over their waterways and seas.
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NSW South Coast’s Yuin Nation Pursues Native Title Claim Over 450km Coastline
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If the application is successful, the native holders may be entitled to catch fish for any purpose
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Native title experts predict that claims on waterways and seas will be more frequent
Yuin man Kevin Mason has been fishing in its ancestral waters since he was a child, providing much-needed food for his community on the south coast of New South Wales.
“This is our livelihood, this is the lifeblood of the aborigines,” he said.
“How to feed [mob]this has happened to me and I will pass it on to my next generation. “
But the 75-year-old has restrictions on where he can fish, as well as how much fish he can catch, and has had clashes with fishing agents over the issue.
Now the Yuin nation, of which Mr. Mason is a part, is waiting for a change.
His is one of the country’s most ambitious native titles on land and water.
Hosted in 2017, it covers 450 kilometers of coastline, including an area three nautical miles to the sea.
Yuin man Wally Stewart said in the early days of the native title his people were led by his lawyers, who told them “don’t worry about the water.”
“So it was left out of a lot of claims,” he said.
“Our claim was simple. Our people are seafarers and that’s who they are.”
Mabo and the sea
Eddie ‘Koiki’ Mabo abolished the notion of ‘terra nullius’ when he appealed to the High Court 30 years ago to recognize the ownership of the village of Meriam over their ancestral lands on the island of Mer in the Torres Strait.
His struggle continues to inspire First Nations people, such as Kevin Mason.
“He was the guy who started it all and we’re here to continue,” Mason said.
Kevin Mason has been fishing in its ancestral waters since he was a child. (ABC News: Kirstie Wellauer)
The initial Mabo case included a sea area around the island of Mer, but for legal reasons, the final case did not claim the ocean.
For Kevin Smith, a Ugar and Erub man from Torres Strait, it was “the right strategy at the right time.”
“We had to get rid of that horrible, horrible legal fiction, terra nullius,” he said.
The first time the Federal Court recognized the native title over the sea was for the traditional owners of Croker Island in Arnhem Land in 1998.
Although the claim was successful, the community also wanted exclusive control over who could enter and use its waterways, but this request was denied.
“You can’t divide the land country and the maritime country, it traditionally doesn’t make sense,” Smith said.
“Mabo’s pending business is to gain nationwide recognition, whether land or sea.”
According to the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Island Studies in Torres Strait, approximately 84% of the coast of the Northern Territory has been recognized as owned by Aboriginal communities through the native title.
Economic benefits
If the group wins its claim, Yuin’s elders hope to regain autonomy over their country’s ocean and waterways.
Attorney Kathryn Ridge, who specializes in cultural heritage and Aboriginal law, said that if Yuin’s application was successful, native holders across the country could be entitled to catch fish for any purpose, including commercial ones.
“It simply came to our notice then [traditional owners] to access a resource, or it could mean that the current regime can continue, “he said.
Kathryn Ridge said that if Yuin’s application was successful, native headlines across the country could be entitled to catch fish for any purpose. (ABC News: Kirstie Wellauer)
Traditional landowners across the country hope to use the claim to establish their own indigenous fishing industries.
Yuin man Wally Stewart believed that before colonization, most of the food in the Yuin people came from the ocean.
He said fishing was still an integral part of his culture. But on the south coast he said too many Aborigines lived in poverty.
Stewart hoped that having a greater right to the ocean could lead to new job opportunities for young Yuin.
“Why should we be the poorest in our own community?” he asked.
“We want to regain our water rights and [to] recognizing our resources, and we want to be compensated for that. “
The people of the South Coast also want to be compensated for what they have lost for centuries. (ABC News: Kirstie Wellauer)
Thirty years after Mabo, native title experts hope that future land and sea rights claims will likely seek compensation from traditional landowners for the loss of rights and culture.
Kevin Smith said it could be difficult to calculate what kind of economic and cultural loss they have experienced
“It simply came to our notice then [happens] only once, you can’t go back “.
But I hope that these statements will not take another 30 years.
“This is a compensation for your future and economic development.”