© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Members of indigenous groups hold a march banner to protest what they say is a lack of detail and consultation on new heritage protection laws, after a mining group in Rio Tinto destroyed old rock shelters for an iron ore mine in Las Vegas.
Written by Melanie Burton
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – The state of Western Australia has agreed to compensate an Indigenous group for historic actions including issuing mining leases on their traditional lands, setting a precedent that will allow Indigenous groups a greater say in future developments.
The state has strengthened its laws to protect indigenous cultural heritage since iron ore mining operations were destroyed by the Rio Tinto (NYSE: 🙂 three years ago historic rock shelters that showed human habitation dating back 46,000 years.
The Western Australian government said it had reached a “historic settlement” with the Tjewarl people in the state’s northern Goldfield region over three Aboriginal property compensation claims, and has finalized an agreement on future land use.
The state will pay the Tjiwarl Aboriginal Corporation A$25.5 million ($17.3 million) for acts such as approving roads and issuing leases that have damaged or destroyed the group’s legal rights to their traditional lands.
The new agreement establishes a greater role for Tjiwarl in future developments by miners and others on issues including water management, mining or petroleum leases, and removes the need for future compensation claims. It also returns some plots of land to Tjaroll and expands the group’s protection area.
Bellevue Gold and lithium developer Liontown Resources Ltd, which operates on the Tjiwarl lands, was involved in the compensation suit.
BHP Group (NYSE:), which declined to comment, entered into a land use agreement in 2018 for its nickel operations and was not part of the settlement. The nickel operations of Mount Keith and Leinster are in the lands of Tjewarl.
Comment was sought from Bellevue and Liontown.
“(The agreement) lays the foundation for a strong relationship between the Western Australian government and future original Tjiwarl bond holders,” the state government said in a statement late Wednesday.
CEO Greg Ryan Gadsden said in a statement that Tjiwarl Aboriginal Corporation was pleased to have reached the settlement.
“We hope it will provide a basis for guiding other indigenous ownership groups to reach similar results.”
Attorney Malcolm O’Dell of Central Desert Native Title Services, who was involved in the negotiations, nearly all mining parties who may have been liable as part of the original compensation claim have now settled that liability.
($1 = 1.4743 Australian dollars)