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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 405 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 21 June 2022 by Ms D.G. D’Anna

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

PILA NATURE RESERVE

405. Ms D.G. D'ANNA to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs:

I refer to the McGowan Labor government's historic support for last week's native title determination in relation to the Pila Nature Reserve. Can the minister outlined to the house why the significant native title achievement is so important to the traditional owners, the Yarnangu people, and advise the house of the economic, social and cultural opportunities that the determination will deliver for Aboriginal people?

Dr A.D. BUTI replied:

I thank the member for Kimberley for the question and for her interest in this area.

Last week, I had the pleasure to travel to the Mina Mina claypan, which is about 1 300 kilometres from Perth, for a very significant event. For the first time in Australian history, under what is called a section 47C of the Native Title Act, traditional native title land that had been extinguished was returned to the traditional owners, the Yarnangu people, who prefer to be called the Pila Nature Reserve traditional owners.

Many years ago, back in the 1960s, they were moved off that land due to the government conducting nuclear testing. When they returned, they returned to a land known then as the Gibson Desert Nature Reserve. Under the Native Title Act, the High Court determined sometime around 2002 or 2004 that nature reserves extinguished native title. The Pila Nature Reserve traditional owners were able to visit their traditional lands, but they were not the native title owners, so they were unable to use that land for economic benefits or for many of their cultural practices. It took a long 20-odd years of struggle to get to the stage we got to last week when, as I said, for the first time, we had a consent determination that native title be returned to the Pila Nature Reserve traditional owners. I would like to thank my former parliamentary colleague and then minister, Ben Wyatt, and also the Minister for Environment at the time, Hon Stephen Dawson. I also thank the most recent former Minister for Environment and also the current Minister for Environment. It is a bit confusing. They sit next to each other, for those who do not understand what I am saying! I thank them for their continued support in this matter. Ministers Wyatt and Dawson went to Mina Mina in 2020 to sign the Gibson Desert Nature Reserve compensation and settlement agreement with the traditional owners, which also meant that the name of the reserve was to change to the Pila Nature Reserve. Pila is a traditional Aboriginal word that honours the area's cultural significance and describes the geography of the area. It means plains or flat country.

An interesting story about the very significant event last week, which, as I said, is the first determination of its type in Australia, is that the Federal Court judge, who was really keen to be there, unfortunately tested positive for COVID in Kalgoorlie that morning, so his 23-year-old associate came dressed up in the judge's robes and read out the determination. It was a rapid promotion for a 23-year-old associate to be reading out the first consent determination in regard to this matter! It was absolutely fantastic. The honourable former Labor Leader of the Opposition Eric Ripper was also with me because he had responsibility for native title matters when he was Deputy Premier back in the Carpenter and Gallop governments. The look of gratitude and happiness on the faces of the traditional owners and the people who have fought this battle for so long was absolutely fantastic. I congratulate the Yarnangu people—the Pila Nature Reserve traditional owners—and also Ben Wyatt and Stephen Dawson for the roles they played in this historic moment last week.

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition with the last question.