Land council backs Tennant Creek native title decision

A Federal Court decision concerning the native title of 1,100 square kilometres of land south-east of Tennant Creek in central Australia has been welcomed by the Central Land Council (CLC).

An appeal against a decision made by Justice John Mansfield in 2004 was lodged by the Northern Territory Government. In that decision, Justice Mansfield determined that seven groups held joint native title over the area in the vicinity of the proposed Davenport Range National Park.

However, last week a full bench of the Federal Court only partly allowed the appeal and upheld the native title rights of the Alywarr, Kaytetye, Warumungu and Wakay people to the area.

The CLC welcomed the decision, claiming it allowed the native title holders to continue the practice of cultural and ceremonial activities on the land.

Nevertheless, the court did uphold other aspects of the Government's appeal, and ruled that native title rights did not extend to trading in resources extracted from the land.

2005-08-05