Native title reps slam WA Government after landmark court win
While the nation was distracted by the Melbourne cup the Federal Court quietly handed down a landmark ruling on native title. The ruling suggests that mining activities don’t permanently extinguish native title. The decision is a relief for the Ngarla people of the Pilbara region in WA, who’ve been wating five years to find out the final status of their traditional lands. BHP and the West Australian government had argued before the court that mining operations on the land had permanently extinguished native title. But the court ruled that once mining activities had ceased, native title rights came into force again. In the wake of their win, the legal representatives of the Ngala people have slammed the WA government, saying its approach to native title has been uncooperative and litigious.