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ARCHIVE NEWS PRESENTER: "Rich bauxite deposits have been discovered and the mining company has leased part of the area to exploit the deposits. The people of Yirkalla have protested to the federal government about the project.”
That is a news report from 1963, referencing the now famous set of documents known as the Yirrkala Bark petitions, which were delivered to the Australian Parliament by the Yolngu people of the Northern Territory.
The petition said a deal had been struck to mine bauxite deposits at Melville Bay, north of Yirrkala - but kept secret from them.
Rirratjingu man Mandaka Marika has previously told NITV the petitions made it clear his forefathers objected strongly.
“It was written both in English and Yuma mata. Then they recognise that we mean something.”
In 1968, another important mining deal was made, this time a 42 year lease to the company Nabalco to mine bauxite from Aboriginal land on the Gove Peninsula at Nhulunbuy, Gumatj Country.
And it's that agreement which Gumatj elder Djawa Yunupingu says has now come under the microscope thanks to a 2025 High Court decision.
“Justice has been served in this country... for my people.”
The High Court has essentially agreed with an earlier Federal Court ruling on the land at Gove, namely that it had NOT been acquired "on just terms" before being leased to Nabalco in 1968.
Djawa's brother the late Dr Yunupingu was the mastermind behind the court action, one for the community's right to compensation for losing their land, and the other, a Native Title application.
“Getting emotional just thinking about my brother. He was the one that had the vision for the future of our people and our children and their children.”
That "just terms" phrase is in our Constitution, and it requires fair payment when property is acquired by the Commonwealth.
The High Court decision means the Commonwealth could now be liable for up to $700 million in compensation to the Gumatj people.
Jamie Lowe from the Native Title Council has told NITV that other traditional owners may also be entitled to compensation.
“I think that it does give a bit of an impetus for native title holders across the country to start filing claims for compensation, and also to fight for their native title rights more.”
In terms of this particular case, lawyer Sean Bowden says the next step is for the courts to now have to work out what "just terms" means - and for the Gumatj native title application to be concluded in the Federal Court before compensation can be ruled in or out.
But he says this particular decision is a significant first step.
“It's a judgment that respects the rights of traditional owners throughout the Northern Territory all of whom, like the Gumatj, have suffered directly from the acts of government in dispossessing them of their lands, exploiting those lands for profit and causing great despair and suffering.”
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says the Commonwealth has no regrets about challenging the Federal Court ruling all the way to the High Court.
He says there were critical constitutional issues that had to be worked out, including the right of the federal government to make decisions in the Northern Territory, and its ability to overrule native title.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the government intends to let all future legal challenges and cases unfold.
“The decision is of course not a final decision. There will be whole court process arising out of this and we allow legal processes to take their course. That is what is appropriate.”
But Professor Peter Yu from the Australian National University says serious thought needs to be given to what happens once the Gumadj Federal Court Native Title case is over.
“The question to be asked is when is that going to be enough and when the government is seriously take our interest seriously and negotiate a settlement on this issue. Because I think that history and other precedent set internationally clearly demonstrate that this is a way that ultimately leads to further litigation and dragging governments around the table to try and arrive at a much more reasonable and proper settlement, recognising the First Peoples of this country.”
