The One Claim message is getting across the cape – but we want to make sure we are clear on the fundamentals…
The way the claim is being put in the Federal Court by our lawyers is that it is the traditional owners – according to traditional law and custom – that speak for, or make decisions about land and waters and who hold the native title rights.
This maybe a family or families, a descent group or clan who under traditional law and custom speak for country. It may be a larger group such as a language named group or other group. It is a matter for traditional law and custom and the particular circumstances.
The case is also being put on the basis that right across the claim there are shared laws and customs.
There is no proposal for someone else to manage or have a say over your land. “Your country – your say”. Many have said that a common traditional law and custom is that no one speaks for another person’s country.
We are also in for a big legal fight as the QLD Government has not agreed to sit down and negotiate a native title outcome – as has been done in all the other native title cases in Cape York.
Please stay tuned and please come to the native title claim meetings currently being held right across Cape York by the Cape York Land Council to discuss the claim. Please also come to the Federal Court in Cairns to hear how your claim is progressing in the Courts.
We will post the dates on this website.
After the fight to win native title then all groups who wish to have a corporation or what is called a Prescribed Bodies Corporate (PBC) to manage their native title rights should be able to do so. This is a matter for traditional owners. Many people are currently discussing the best ways to do this including ensuring that PBCs have capacity and are properly funded to manage this important and fundamental resource for the future of our children.