Claimants to Native Title in the South East have agreed to go to meditation with State Government agencies over the disputed status of more than 100 parcels of land.
A case management conference was held in Adelaide late last year before Judicial Registrar Nicholas Parkyn of the Federal Court.
Orders were made with the consent of the parties referring the matters in dispute between the First Nations of the South East and the State Government to court managed mediation.
A timeframe for the mediation was not set and the matter will be relisted for further directions at a date in the future once the mediation has occurred.
The seven South East councils jointly appointed an Adelaide law firm several years ago to act on their behalf in matters relating to the Native Title claims by the First Nations of the South East.
Senior lawyer Taara Kennedy has provided an update on the Native Title negotiations to date at the request of Wattle Range Council chief executive Ben Gower.
Her letter was tabled at the January monthly council meeting with Mr Gower stating he was keen for councillors and the wider community to be informed.
In her letter, Ms Kennedy summarised the court-ordered mediation process as described above.
She said the Native Title claims have been progressing towards a Consent Determination over a number of years.
“Before a Consent Determination can be made it is necessary to establish exactly where Native Title can be recognised and where it has been extinguished,” Ms Kennedy said.
“This involved the assessment of a vast volume of historical tenure information to assess the native title status of approximately 57,000 parcels of land, including many land parcels held by, or under the care and control of, various councils
“The tenure assessment process is largely complete.
“However there remains 125 parcels of land which the State Government and the First Nations of the South East have not reached agreement with respect to whether Native Title exists or has been extinguished.”
She said a further matter in dispute is the terms of an agreement under section 47C of the Native Title Act 1993.
According to Ms Kennedy, his provision allows for the recognition of Native Title over certain land such as park areas where it has otherwise been extinguished.
Her letter contained a small number of specific references to Wattle Range and the six other SE councils.
There was a brief discussion on the letter before the chamber endorsed a staff recommendation to receive and note its contents.
Mr Gower said he anticipated the First Nations of the SE had some claim to compensation.
“It is a very complicated legal matter,” Mr Gower said.
“There are literally hundreds of little blocks.”
He said a resolution was near for council’s Southern Ocean Tourist Park at Beachport as it had been leased prior to the Mabo Native Title judgement in 1996.
Councillor Dale Price said he did not want to see a repeat in the SE of a Native Title dispute which he claimed had taken place in a particular community in western Victoria.
“It was a terrible bunfight,” Cr Price said.