Updated
Traditional owners who oppose the Adani mine have
appealed to the Queensland Government not to permanently extinguish
their native title rights before they take their case to the High Court.
A Federal Court decision on Friday, upholding Adani's Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) with the Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) people, paves the way for the State Government to cancel all native title over the mine site.
In a 91-page judgment, Justice John Reeves said none of the grounds of the challenge by the mine opponents had "any merit".
If Adani gains freehold over the site, the W&J could not reclaim native title rights in the future, regardless of whether or not the controversial mine project goes ahead.
An ILUA is a critical step for Adani gaining finance, as leading global financiers do not fund resource projects without traditional owner consent.
Delay sought ahead of High Court challenge
Last month, the W&J family council wrote to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and three senior ministers, asking the State Government not to rush any decision to hand over property rights to Adani ahead of a possible High Court challenge to the Federal Court ruling.W&J family council spokesman Adrian Burragubba said on Friday it would be a "travesty" for the Government to wipe out native title for Adani.
"If Queensland can stop them dredging the reef before Adani has the money, or pull the pin on NAIF [Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility] funding, they can surely protect our rights to our land," he said.
"We have called on the United Nations for scrutiny of what's happening here."The Government must bring itself into the modern era on our human rights and leave us to protect our country and chart a better future than coal mining."
The W&J are split on Adani, with opposing groups holding rival authorisation meetings to claim or reject support for a deal with the Indian mining firm.
The W&J native title representative group, which initially approved the ILUA with a 7-5 majority, is now split 6-6.
One representative, Craig Dallen, withdrew his support for the mine, alleging Adani paid him and others to recruit mine supporters, including Indigenous people outside the W&J with no link to the mine site.
Adani and its W&J supporters insisted the process was legitimate.
The W&J family council letter to the State Government warned there was a "substantial risk of an injustice in the face of a project that appears to have little real prospect of going ahead".
"It would be unfair and unreasonable to act prematurely to extinguish our native title by any means until the litigation is fully completed."The mine's Indigenous opponents cited legal advice from their barristers, Stephen Keim and David Yarrow, that argued the Government was under no obligation under the ILUA to extinguish native title by granting freehold to Adani.
"Any pressure from Adani to act upon the Adani ILUA should be resisted, as extinguishment of native title involves the exercise by your Government of statutory discretions that cannot be fettered in advance (whether by contract or otherwise)," Mr Keim and Mr Yarrow said in the W&J submission to the Queensland Government.
The barristers also said the Government should also wait for Adani to lock in finance, pay rehabilitation bonds in full, sign royalty agreements with the state and get approval for groundwater plans.
Queensland Environment Minister Leanne Enoch has confirmed to a parliamentary committee hearing that her department is forcing Adani to identify the source of the Doongmabulla Springs.
The ABC has previously reported that scientists had concerns the springs, a key cultural heritage site for the W&J, could run dry under Adani's water extraction plans.
The State Government has previously promised to block dredging of Great Barrier Reef waters for Adani's port unless finance was locked in.
We will work with the W&J people: Adani
An Adani spokeswoman said the company welcomed the decision upholding an ILUA that was challenged by "a minority group of W&J people".She did not say whether Adani now expected the Government to extinguish native title.
"We look forward to working with the State Government and the traditional owners to take the next steps in order to finalise land tenure for our project," she said.
"We will work with the W&J people under the guidance of the ILUA, while respecting the rights, history, future intentions and requests of the traditional owners."
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