ULURU STATEMENT FROM THE HEART, 26 May 20017

ULURU STATEMENT FROM THE HEART

We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart:

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.

This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or ‘mother nature’, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.

How could it be otherwise? That peoples possessed a land for sixty millennia and this sacred link disappears from world history in merely the last two hundred years?

With substantive constitutional change and structural reform, we believe this ancient sovereignty can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia’s nationhood.

Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future.

These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem. This is the torment of our powerlessness.

We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.

We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.

Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle. It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.

We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.

In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.

26 May 2017

Australia is the only Commonwealth country that does not have a treaty with its Indigenous peoples.

"This is a contemptible intervention from a pro-mining government to deny the legal rights of Indigenous people"

“Our traditional lands are an interconnected and living whole; a vital cultural landscape. It is central to us as a People, and to the maintenance of our identity, laws and consequent rights. If the Carmichael mine were to proceed it would tear the heart out of the land. The scale of this mine means it would have devastating impacts on our native title, ancestral lands and waters, our totemic plants and animals, and our environmental and cultural heritage. It would pollute and drain billions of litres of groundwater, and obliterate important springs systems. It would potentially wipe out threatened and endangered species. It would literally leave a huge black hole, monumental in proportions, where there were once our homelands. These effects are irreversible. Our land will be “disappeared”.”  [Wangan & Jagalingou People, Our Fight]

BuzzFeed News, 18 May 2017:

Human rights lawyer and adjunct professor of law at Macquarie University, George Newhouse, said Brandis' intervention was using native title law against Indigenous Australians rather than assisting them.

"This is a contemptible intervention from a pro-mining government to deny the legal rights of Indigenous people under the Native Title Act 1993," he told BuzzFeed News.

"[The government's] power is being used to obstruct Indigenous land claimants. This discriminatory law only affects Indigenous Australians. The rights of Indigenous people continue to be stripped away for the benefit of big coal miners."

Greens Deputy Leader and Senator for Queensland, Larissa Waters, slammed the intervention, saying the government had sided with Adani over traditional owners.

"Brandis’ attempt to push a bill through the Senate that was designed to ram through the Adani coal mine against the wishes of the local Wangan & Jagalingou people failed, so now he is interfering in their court case," she told BuzzFeed News.

"This isn’t about good reform to Native Title it’s about making things as easy as possible for Adani at the expense of the land rights of First Australians".

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said Labor supports the government's proposed amendments to the Native Title act, but declined to comment on Brandis' intervention.

Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council, 18 May 2017:

Senator Brandis’ intervention follows his second failure to rush through changes to the Native Title Act. The Attorney General has asked the Court to not make a ruling, but wait for the political process around the Native Title Bill to conclude. The Bill has not passed the Senate because of a lack of consultation with Traditional Owners around the country, and concern about key provisions.

Senior spokesperson for the Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) Traditional Owners Council, Adrian Burragubba, said, “The Attorney General has made an extraordinary and political intervention in matters before the court. Intervening in our case shows Brandis is working in billionaire Adani’s interests, not ensuring the proper administration of justice. Again, Brandis is making Native Title all about Adani’s mine instead of good law reform.

“Brandis should apply himself to good law reform, and let the court do its work. Instead he’s trying to influence the decisions of a judge in favour of a mining company.

“The Wangan and Jagalingou Council are seeking Federal Court orders to strike out the purported Indigenous Land Use Agreement [ILUA] filed by Adani Mining with the National Native Title Tribunal. The ILUA would authorise ‘extinguishment’ of our native title and allow the mine to proceed against our strong objections and our right to say ‘No’.

“The Federal Government has been attempting to push through amendments to the Native Title Act to overturn the ruling in McGlade and protect Adani’s interests. Along with other Traditional Owners, we  continue to demand proper consultations and the necessary time to achieve consent for Native Title amendments”, he said.

While on the other side of the country another opportunistic miner is using Native Title law for his own benefit

Thomson Reuters Foundation News, 17 May 2017:

SYDNEY, May 18 (Reuters) - Mining magnate Andrew Forrest has used laws designed to protect indigenous land rights to stop prospectors searching for minerals on his West Australian cattle farms, angering both traditional Aboriginal landowners and mining community members.

While tensions between the competing interests of indigenous landholders, pastoral leaseholders and miners on government-controlled land are common, Forrest's approach represents one of the first known examples of a non-Aboriginal successfully using rights afforded to indigenous people to their own advantage.

Native title is a legal doctrine in Australia that recognises indigenous rights to certain parcels of land.

Forrest's use of it is not illegal, but it adds to the fractious relationship he has with some indigenous groups. Different groups have raised concerns over Forrest's cattle interests and have battled over land rights with the company he founded and chairs - Fortescue Metals Group, the world's fourth biggest iron ore miner……

But Matthew Slack, the head of the Buurabalayji Thalanyji Aboriginal Corp which oversees native title for the indigenous landowners, said it was "pretty rich" for Forrest to use rights designed to protect indigenous interests.

Thalanyji were also concerned about cattle numbers and water use at Forrest's 2,400 square km (927 sq mile) Minderoo pastoral lease in Western Australia's Pilbara district, he said.

"We are disgusted with Forrest and have been for some time. Slack said. "Our dreamtime creatures can't survive because the river is so low."

Warning sign of trouble ahead once Turnbull Government changes Native Title Act 1993?

Excerpt from Explanatory Memorandum for the Native Title Amendment (Indigenous Land Use Agreements) Bill 2017:

21. It is not thought likely that the Bill involves the acquisition of property otherwise than on just terms.

22. The Bill does however provide for compensation to persons for acquisition of property otherwise than on just terms should this be determined to have happened as a result of the operation of the amendments.

23. These provisions provide that, in the event that it is determined that a person’s proprietary rights have been affected without compensation as a result of the Act, the Commonwealth will be liable to pay a reasonable amount of compensation to that person.

Wangan Jagalingou Traditional Owners: "we've seen the end of the world and we've decided not to accept it"

Resisting Adani

https://youtu.be/xIN8b1MAwvs

And the shadowy foreign corporations they are fighting……

ABC News, 14 March 2017:

Up to $3 billion from Adani's planned Carmichael coal mine will be shifted to a subsidiary owned in the Cayman Islands if the controversial project goes ahead, an analysis of company filings shows.

An "overarching royalty deed" gives a shell company rights to receive a $2-a-tonne payment, rising yearly by the inflation rate, beyond the first 400,000 tonnes mined in each production year for two decades.

The company with this entitlement is ultimately owned by Atulya Resources Limited, a secretive entity registered in the Cayman Islands, and controlled by the Adani family.

"In plain English, the upshot for the Adani family is [that] if the mine goes ahead, they receive a $2-a-tonne payment, so up to $3 billion, via a Cayman Islands company, a company owned in a tax haven," says Adam Walters, principal researcher and Energy Resource Insights.

With a production capacity of 60 million tonnes or more a year, that amounts to about $120 million per annum in payments, increasing each year in line with the CPI, potentially flowing offshore.

"I would describe it as a structure that means that the Adani family enriches themselves if the mine goes ahead but that other shareholders are impoverished," associate professor Thomas Clarke, director of the Centre for Corporate Governance at UTS told the ABC.

"The worry is that this may be just the beginning.

"That the Adani family have the ability to shift cash and assets around at will and in the future they may well do so at the cost of shareholders and the Queensland economy."

He said the billions flowing to the Adani private company would come at the expense of minority shareholders in the company listed on the Bombay stock exchange which ultimately owns the Carmichael mine.

How Adani acquired the right to this multi-billion-dollar revenue stream is a tale in itself.

In 2010, Adani Mining Pty Ltd bought the coal tenement that is set to become the Carmichael mine from the now defunct Linc Energy.

Part of the sale involved Adani Mining giving Linc Energy an "overriding royalty deed" which entitled it to receive $2-a-tonne for all coal mined beyond the first 400,000 tonnes in any production year.

Linc Energy informed investors at the time could be worth "over $120 million per annum" and up to $3 billion over the course of the royalty right.

But in August 2014, in dire financial straits, Linc Energy agreed to sell the royalty deed back to Adani at a fire sale price: just $150 million.

The obvious course would have been to extinguish the royalty deed, because it represented a multi-billion-dollar liability for the mine which is ultimately owned by Adani Enterprises Ltd, the Bombay-stock exchange listed company.

Instead, the royalty deed "was assigned by Linc Energy Limited to Carmichael Rail Network Pty Ltd as trustee for Carmichael Rail Network Trust," notes in financial reports of Adani Mining Pty Ltd say.

Carmichael Rail Network is one of a group of companies behind the proposed North Galilee Basin rail line, which Adani is currently seeking a subsidised loan of up to $1 billion from the Federal Government's Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility to build.

"What this means is that one of the companies currently seeking up to $1 billion in public subsidy is going to profit to the tune of up to $3 billion if the mine goes ahead," Mr Walters said…..

Without wide consultation with indigenous peoples the Turnbull Government is fast tracking amendments to the C'wealth Native Title Act 1993

Without wide consultation with indigenous peoples the Turnbull Government has tabled a retrospective bill, Native title amendment (indigenous land use agreements) bill 2017, in order to overturn Federal Court of Australia orders handed down in McGlade  v Native Title Registrar [2017] FCAFC 10 and ensure that projects such as foreign multinational Adani Mining Pty Ltd’s Galilee Basin complex comprising six open-cut & five underground coal mines and associated infrastructure can proceed.

As it now stands this bill appears to allow a weakening of the authority of Native Title holders identified and named by the Native Title Tribunal in decisions made under existing provisions in Native Title Act 1993 as well as those who may be named in future decisions.

However, this is a complex issue given the number of existing Indigenous Land Use Agreements which have been entered into across Australia and merits Parliament’s attention – though perhaps not the less than 24 hour express train ride Turnbull gave it in the Lower House.

On 16 February the bill passed the House of Representatives with a majority of 9 MPs and has been referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee which is expected to file a report on 17 March 2017.

The Noongar People of West Australia may just have saved the southern section of The Great Barrier Reef from degradation by the foreign-owned Adani Group

In the beginning…

February 2016 statement:

We are a group of Noongar people from the South West region of Western Australia seeking funding to support our legal costs to oppose the 6 Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) settlements with the South West Land & Sea Council (SWALSC) and the State Government.

Our group was founded in December 2014 to oppose the 6 ILUA settlements and to campaign against the authorization meetings held from 31 January 2015 to 28 March 2015.

 With an estimated 35,000 Noongar people in the south west region. We believe that the ILUA settlements discriminate against our people. The Noongar people are required to surrender all land in return for small pockets of land set aside under the deal. We are required to surrender our traditional ownership and native title rights, to have the power and civil right to negotiate for any royalties forthcoming. Through this ILUA, we are also required to surrender ('relinquish') all rights to challenge against 'negligence' under 'duty of care' within civil law legal obligations, any hurt, suffering and pain from the enactment of the native title act and all other acts.

 The Noongar people and Non-Aboriginal people will have no say about land developments and the clearance of large areas of bushlands, thus preventing our say into any further destructions of 'natural resources' (food, fauna and habitat) for our native wildlife and surrounding environment within the South West lands. Additionally, to this we will have no say about corporate control via mining development entities and prevention of the devastating impact on the environment, they withhold. These are just a few of the 'unfair treatment' and blatant disregard of civil rights requirements of this ILUA settlement…..

See full text here.

High Court of Australia transcript McGlade v Registrar  Native Title Tribunal & Ors here.

The implications…..

Townsville Bulletin, 3 February 2017:

ADANI's $21 billion coal mine has been thrown into doubt by a shock Federal Court decision that threatens to void scores of native title deals across Australia.

Both the State and Federal governments were last night scrambling to secure legal advice on the implications of the decision, which has sent the nation's mining industry into meltdown.

The Bulletin has learned Attorney-General George Brandis has been poring over the judgment to determine whether urgent legislation was required to avert a crisis.

And Adani has sought assurances from the Palaszczuk Government that the decision, handed down in Perth on Thursday, will not derail its planned Galilee Basin mega mine.

In the McGlade v Registrar National Native Title Tribunal decision, the Full Federal Court ruled a native title agreement covering a vast area across the southwest of Western Australia invalid.

Industry insiders have warned the decision threatens the validity of scores of native title agreements worth billions of dollars struck between tribes and developers across Australia since 2010.

An Adani spokesman told the Bulletin the company had sought legal advice on the implications of the case on its project.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has also requested urgent advice on what impact the decision will have on billions of dollars worth of development projects either completed, under way or planned.

Minister for State Development and Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Anthony Lynham said he would seek discussions on the issue with colleagues in the Commonwealth, states and territories.

And he conceded the Federal Court decision would potentially also impact non-mining projects.

"Yesterday's Federal Court decision could be very significant nationally, and not just for the resources sector," he said.

"The government is awaiting advice from Crown Law on the implications of this decision for Queensland, and other governments are likely to be doing the same across the country."…..

The Western Australia case concerned an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) struck between members of the Noongar tribe and the WA Government.

The deal, in which the Noongar people were to receive $1.3 billion in cash, land and benefits over 12 years, took five years to establish and was hailed as the largest native title agreement in Australian history.

But the Full Court upheld a challenge by members of the Noongar claim who said that they had not signed the final agreement and that it must therefore be declared invalid.

The decision went against the ruling in 2010 case QGC Pty Ltd v Bygrave and Others, which found an ILUA could be registered if at least one of the named applicants was party to it.

Legal experts and political insiders last night said the only way to avoid mass confusion surrounding the validity of ILUAs would be to amend the federal Native Title Act.

"The mining industry, it is fair to say, is in meltdown over this,'' said one senior industry source.

"This has devastating implications — not just for mining but for any development that was subject to an indigenous land use agreement.''

A spokeswoman for Senator Brandis said the Commonwealth was carefully studying the decision…..

The Commonwealth is considering what steps may need to be taken to deal with the issues raised by the Full Court and provide certainty for all parties in the native title system."

A High Court challenge to the decision would take a minimum of 12 months to process.

Adani has already indicated that any protracted delays at this point would force it to walk away from the giant Carmichael mine project.

The project has become a lightning rod for the green movement, which has mobilised nationally to delay and obstruct it.

Minister for Northern Australia Matt Canavan said the Federal Government was seeking further advice on implications for mining and other developments.

Adani Group in hot water on two continents?

In debt for billions, refused additional finance, under investigation in India and still before the courts in Australia – the rather suspect Adani Group is not starting the year on a high.

The Hindu,  8 May 2016:

Adani group (Gautam Adani)

The billionaire Gautam Adani’s Adani group, with Rs 96,031 crore debt, is under pressure to sell its stake in the Abbott Point coal mines, port and rail project. The Adani Group’s debt stands at Rs. 72,000 crore. Last year, Standard Chartered bank had recalled loans amounting to $2.5 billion as part of its global policy of reducing exposure in emerging markets. Global lenders have backed out from funding the $10-billion coal mine development project. State Bank of India has also declined to offer a loan despite signing an MoU to fund the group with $1 billion. An Adani spokesperson declined to offer any comments on the issue.

Times of India, 13 September 2016:

DRI has been investigating 40 power generating companies and traders for the past couple of years. According to DRI, some prominent public and private sector companies inflated the import value of coal beyond that prevailing in the international market. Some companies are also being probed for allegedly inflating the value of imported capital goods. According to DRI, power tariffs were fixed based on the inflated values, which resulted in consumers paying higher charges.

DRI has alleged that Adani Group and Essar have imported capital goods through intermediaries in tax havens. It claims that the companies' objective was to siphon off money abroad while availing higher power tariff compensation based on artificially-inflated costs of imported coal or capital goods.

While the coal was directly shipped from Indonesian ports to importers in India, the import invoices were routed through one or more intermediaries based in a third country such as Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong and British Virgin Islands. These intermediary firms appear to be either subsidiaries of Indian importers or their front companies. This was the modus operandi used in the import of capital goods too. Investigations into overvaluation by other companies are still in progress.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has stayed an order of Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) that directed the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission to award compensatory tariffs to Adani Power and Coastal Gujarat Power (Tata group) based on power purchase agreements for their power plants in Mundra. APTEL has also disallowed compensatory tariff to Adani Group's power plant at Tiroda in Maharashtra and Kawai in Rajasthan.

ABC News, 7 December 2016:

Traditional owners are set to launch further legal action against Adani's Carmichael coal mine slated for central Queensland.

The Wangan and Jagalingou people claimed the $22 billion project impinges on their native title rights, and would extinguish their interests over 28 square kilometres of land if it goes ahead.

Spokesman Adrian Burragubba said the group was running four separate legal challenges to the project, and vowed to continue fighting.

"We will continue to pursue all legal avenues, Australian and international, and put a stop to this disastrous project," he said.

"Our rights are not protected, and we will test the limits of the law in this country if need be, including all the way to the High Court."

Courier Mail, 11 December 2016:

Questions remain over how the Carmichael project will be funded.

Mr Buckley says the Adani group is among the most highly leveraged companies in India with net debt across the group of about $15 billion.

More than a dozen major international financiers have ruled out providing funds for the project.

ABC News, 22 December 2016:

The business behind the planned Carmichael coal mine in North Queensland is facing multiple financial crime and corruption probes, with Indian authorities investigating Adani companies for siphoning money offshore and artificially inflating power prices at the expense of Indian consumers.

Companies under scrutiny for the alleged corrupt conduct include Adani Enterprises Limited — the ultimate parent company of the massive mine planned for the Galilee Basin.

Two separate investigations into allegations of trade-based money laundering by Adani companies are underway — one into the fraudulent invoicing of coal imports and the other into a scam involving false invoicing for capital equipment imports.

"They are very serious allegations and they are being conducted by the premier Indian government agency investigating financial crime," Australia's foremost expert on money laundering, Professor David Chaikin of the University of Sydney, told the ABC.

"The allegations involve substantial sums of money with major losses to the Indian taxpayer."

Adani denies wrongdoing.

The "modus operandi" of the claimed fraud is outlined in a circular issued by India's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, which was obtained by the ABC.

"Intelligence obtained by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence indicated that certain importers of Indonesian coal were artificially inflating its import value as opposed to its actual value," Professor Chaikin said.

"The objective … appears to be two-fold: (i) siphoning off money abroad and (ii) to avail higher power tariff compensation based on [the] artificially inflated cost of the imported coal."

Five Adani Group companies are among a number of power companies named in the circular as under investigation.

These include Adani Enterprises Ltd, the ultimate parent company of the Adani entity, which holds the environmental approvals for the planned Carmichael Coal Mine and a railway to the mine.

Adani Enterprises Ltd has also been accused of involvement in large-scale illegal iron ore exports and bribery of public officials.

According to a 2011 report by the ombudsman of the Indian State of Karnataka, obtained by the ABC, police seized documents from Adani Enterprises in raids "which indicate that money has been regularly paid to port authorities, customs authorities, police department, mines and geology and even to MLAs/MPs".

The revelations come as the Federal Government considers granting Adani a $1 billion subsidy to build a railway from the Abbot Point Coal Terminal to the mine site 400 kilometres inland.

This is just not good enough, Premier Baird!

This lack of prior consultation with indigenous Native Title holders or registered claimants happens too often at state and local government level in NSW to be considered instances of accidental oversight.

It certainly does not show the NSW Government in a good light when it ignores both federal and state legislation and/or regulations requiring such consultation.

Click on image to enlarge

Majority of Yaegl Traditional Owners Corporation board members vote to boycott August meeting with Des Euen concerning his Yamba mega port proposal

Clarence Valley Independent, Wednesday 3 August 2016.

In awe of the strength of first peoples protecting land

Sometimes two sentences hold a wealth of meaning.....

Post on the Facebook page No Yamba Mega Port announcing that the corporation which manages the two Native Titles over the Clarence River on behalf of the Yaegl People will not support Australian Infrastructure Development's scheme to industrialize the high environmental and cultural value Clarence River estuary.

President of the Casino Chamber of Commerce, Luke Bodley, lends his support to proposed environmental vandalism on a large scale

Des Euen and ‘friend’ on the Iluka side of the Clarence River mouth at an unspecified date

There is obviously one born every minute somewhere in the world and on 26 May 2016 it was the turn of the National Party's Luke Bodley of Realo Group Pty Ltd to step into the limelight and be recognised .

Here he is on Facebook promoting a proposal to destroy existing environmental, cultural, social and economic values in the Clarence River estuary:

And who is he doing this promotion for? Why for a $1 shelf company, with no apparent business address (instead using the address of the Minter Group), no listed business phone number and, most importantly,  no local, state or federal government support.

A phantom-like company which states it has had international development funding approved for five inter-related projects est. to cost $42.7 billion in total.

Projects which appear to still be mere sketches on the back of envelopes if this plan for a large industrial port is any indication:

Figure 1 shows a port precinct which covers an est. 27.2 % of the entire Clarence River estuary, 
www.aid-australia.com.au/project-1/

According to Mr. Euen the indicative timeline will see Stage 1 of this approx. 36 sq km super-port operational sometime in 2018 - even though not one of the required in-depth reports has been generated to date by AID Australia, no planning application has been submitted yet and no comprehensive surveying undertaken. He laughably states the entire proposed port infrastructure will be completed in around twelve years.

I wonder if Mr. Bodley has ever puzzled over the fact that there is no roar of support emanating from the Clarence Valley for these personal projects of former Queensland truck driver Desmond John Thomas Euen?

Has he thought about why an infrastructure 'plan' that has been hawked around the country for at least the last four to five years has been unable to gain official support in all that time from either local, state or federal governments?

Or wondered why Euen isn't holding his "summit" in the area covered by the lynch-pin in his grandiose plan, the Lower Clarence?

Perhaps this Google Earth snapshot of what the lowest section of the Clarence River estuary looks like today might give him a hint:

What this image shows is a river from the mouth to Harwood which has been held under Native Title since 2015 and an approach to the river partially blocked by a culturally & spiritually significant coffee rock reef which is the indigenous ancestor Dirrangun.

It shows the base for the largest commercial river & offshore fishery in NSW (generating in excess of an est. $92M output and $15.4M annual income) which supports a fleet moored on both the Iluka and Yamba sides of the river and as far up as Maclean.

There are also oyster leases and aquaculture ponds within the estuary.

This snapshot covers part of the range of one of only two river-dwelling dolphin pods on the east coast of Australia and one which successfully co-exists with the tourism-reliant small towns of Yamba, Iluka and Maclean, as well as with the many domestic and international yachts and other pleasure boats which use the lower river.

The green is this image predominately comprises cane farms, extensive national parks, dedicated foreshore nature reserves and one of this country’s few World Heritage areas, a 136 ha remnant of the ancient Gondwanna subtropical rainforests proclaimed by the United Nations in 1986.

In 2006-07 the people of the Clarence Valley successfully fought off a Howard Government proposal to dam and divert water from the Clarence River catchment for the benefit of mining, agricultural irrigation and land development interests in the Murray Darling Basin and southern Queensland.

That fight was part of the reason why Australia’s federal government changed in 2007.

As late as 30 May 2016 Nationals MP for Clarence and Parliamentary Secretary for the North Coast, Chris Gulapatis, has this to say in response to Euen's scheming:

While even Des Euen himself recently told The Daily Examiner that it is NSW Government policy to direct import-export sea freight to the major ports of Port Jackson, Port Botany, Port Kembla and the Port of Newcastle.

UPDATE

North Coast Voices received this email today:

North Coast Voices Blog - Correction of information required

From: redacted [mailto:redacted@gnfrealestate.com.au]
Sent: Wednesday, 8 June 2016 1:59 PM
To: northcoastvoices@gmail.com
Cc: Darren Perkins
Subject: North Coast Voices Blog - Correction of information required

Good afternoon,

With regard to the below blog link for North Coast Voices, Luke Bodley ceased employment with GNF Real Estate Pty Ltd on the 28^th April 2016. We request that the mention of George & Fuhrmann Real Estate be removed from the article.

http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2016/06/president-of-casino-chamber-of-commerce.html

Regards

Darren Perkins

Managing Director

George & Fuhrmann

However Luke Bodley was still listed as part of this real estate company's Casino staff as at 2.28PM on 8 June 2016:

When there is public evidence online that Mr. Bodley is no longer associated with this company the mention will be removed from the body of the post, but the correspondence and comment will remain.

Proposals for reform of the Native Title Act: Australian Law Reform Commission calls for submissions

Media Release

23 October 2014

     Proposals for reform of the Native Title Act: ALRC calls for submissions

The Australian Law Reform Commission has today released a Discussion Paper, Review of the Native Title Act 1993 (DP 82). The paper contains a range of proposals and questions around connection requirements for the recognition and scope of native title rights and interests; authorisation; and joinder provisions. The ALRC is seeking feedback on these proposals.

Professor Lee Godden, Commissioner-in-charge of the Inquiry, said, “The ALRC has relied on more than 100 consultations with Indigenous organisations and individuals, industry, academics, state governments and many other people who are actively involved in the Native Title claims process and we are extremely grateful to everyone who has provided input into our thinking to date. Under the Terms of Reference for the Inquiry, we were to be guided by the Preamble and the Objects of the Native Title Act. In addition, the Inquiry has developed five guiding principles to underlie reforms: acknowledging the importance of the recognition of native title; acknowledging the many interests in the native title system; encouraging timely and just resolution of determinations; consistency with international law; and supporting sustainable futures. Our proposals seek to improve the operation of the Native Title Act within this principled framework.”

ALRC President, Professor Rosalind Croucher, said, “The Native Title Act is a key element in recognising the relationship of Indigenous people to land and waters. Reforms must also consider the impacts upon all participants in the native title system, as native title operates across many sectors in Australian society. In this context, the ALRC has had regard to the complexity of law, procedure and practice and the significant policy and economic context for native title. The challenge is to consider change in the native title system that advances the recognition and protection of native title, while ensuring that reforms support a robust and productive relationship between all participants.”

The ALRC will now undertake a further round of national consultations and will provide its Final Report to the Attorney-General by the end of March 2015. 

The ALRC invites individuals and organisations to make submissions in response to the Discussion Paper by 18 December 2014. Submissions can be made in writing by post or by email or using the ALRC’s online submission form: www.alrc.gov.au/content/native-title-dp82-online-submission

The Discussion Paper is available from the ALRC website in a range of formats, including as an ebook. All ALRC publications are available free of charge at www.alrc.gov.au/publications.

Subscribe to the Native Title Inquiry enews on the ALRC website. 

Media contact Marie-Claire Muir on (02) 8238 6305 or 0466 635 405 or via email at <marie-claire.muir@alrc.gov.au>

Further information on the work of the ALRC can be found at www.alrc.gov.au

Bandjalang People gain Native Title on NSW North Coast

Tears and cheers after the court judgment was announced

Photograph from Valley Watchdog

On 2 December 2013 two longstanding native title applications were finally determined by the Federal Court of Australia in Bandjalang  People No 1 and No 2 v Attorney General of New South Wales [2013] FCA 1278:

NSD 6034 of 1998

THE COURT DETERMINES THAT:

Existence of Native Title

1.           Native title exists in relation to:

(a) each of the areas of land and waters described in Schedule One, to the extent that each falls within the external boundaries of the claim area as described in Attachment B to the Further Amended Claimant Application in the Proceedings (which is reproduced as Schedule Three to this Consent Determination) ("External Boundaries"); and

(b) all land between the mean high water mark and the mean low water mark within the External Boundaries

(c) collectively the areas described at (a) and (b) above are the "Consent Determination Area".

Native title holders

2.            Native title is held by the Bandjalang People who are Aboriginal persons who are:

(a) the biological descendants of:

(i) King Harry, Jack Wilson, Susannah mother of Frank Jock Jnr, Michael “Mundoon” Wilson, George James, Eliza Breckenridge, Jack Breckenridge, Frank Jock Jnr, Ada Jock, Gibson Robinson, Grace Bond; and

(b) persons adopted or incorporated into the families of those persons (and the biological descendants of any such adopted or incorporated persons) and who identify as and are accepted as  Bandjalang  People in accordance with Bandjalang  traditional laws and customs.

Nature and extent of native title rights and interests

3.            Subject to paragraphs 4 to 9 inclusive the nature and extent of the native title rights and interests held by the Bandjalang People in the Consent Determination Area identified in Schedule One, are the nonexclusive rights set out below:

(a) the right to hunt, fish and gather the traditional natural resources of the Consent Determination Area for non-commercial personal, domestic and communal use;

(b) the right to take and use waters on or in the Consent Determination Area;

(c) the right to access and camp on the Consent Determination Area;

(d) the right to do the following activities on the land:

(i) conduct ceremonies;

(ii) teach the physical, cultural and spiritual attributes of places and areas of importance on or in the land and waters; and

(iii) to have access to, maintain and protect from physical harm, sites in the Consent Determination Area which are of significance to the Bandjalang  People under their traditional laws and customs.

AND

NSD 6107 of 1998

THE COURT DETERMINES THAT:

Existence of Native Title

1.            Native title exists in relation to each of the areas of land and waters described in Schedule One, to the extent that each falls within the external boundaries of the claim area as described in Attachment B to the Further Amended Claimant Application in these proceedings (which is reproduced as Schedule Three to this Consent Determination) ("External Boundaries") (“Consent Determination Area”). Each of the areas described in Schedule One is to be taken to include any creek occurring within its boundaries.

Native title holders

2.            Native title is held by the “Bandjalang People” who are Aboriginal persons who are:

(a) the biological descendants of:

(i) King Harry, Jack Wilson, Susannah mother of Frank Jock Jnr, Michael “Mundoon” Wilson, George James, Eliza Breckenridge, Jack Breckenridge, Frank Jock Jnr, Ada Jock, Gibson Robinson, Grace Bond; and

(b) Persons adopted or incorporated into the families of those persons (and the biological descendants of any such adopted or incorporated persons) and who identify as and are accepted as Bandjalang People in accordance with Bandjalang  traditional laws and customs.

Nature and extent of native title rights and interests

3.            Subject to paragraphs 4 to 7 the nature and extent of the native title rights and interests held by the Bandjalang People in the Consent Determination Area identified in Schedule One, are the nonexclusive rights set out below:

(a) the right to hunt, fish and gather the traditional natural resources of the Consent Determination Area for non-commercial personal, domestic and communal use;

(b) the right to take and use waters on or in the Consent Determination Area;

(c) the right to access and camp on the Consent Determination Area;

(d) the right to do the following activities on the land:

(i) conduct ceremonies;

(ii) teach the physical, cultural and spiritual attributes of places and areas of importance on or in the land and waters; and

(iii) to have access to, maintain and protect from physical harm, sites in the Consent Determination Area which are of significance to the Bandjalang People under their traditional laws and customs.

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