In the center of the Pilbara, two cultures – and two techniques of legislation – have collided within the pink dust.
To the Fortescue Metals Group – the mining firm based and chaired by billionaire Andrew Forrest – and the state of Western Australia, that pink dust means one factor: iron ore.
To the Yindjibarndi individuals, it is rather more advanced and layered.
Their ancestors have walked that pink dust for hundreds of years. It holds their spirits. It’s a part of their historic songlines.
That pink dust nourishes crops and animals which have sustained Yindjibarndi individuals for generations, and so they have an obligation to take care of it.
In Australian legislation, all minerals are owned by the state which might grant exploration and mining approvals and leases.
In Yindjibarndi legislation, the individuals have a duty to take care of their nation and one another beneath Yingaardt and Galharra.
And the collision between these two conflicting concepts is on the coronary heart of a bitterly contested native title case, which held on-country hearings close to Fortescue’s Solomon Hub operations within the Pilbara earlier in August.
The high-stakes Federal Court case will lastly decide whether or not Yindjibarndi native title holders needs to be compensated for Fortescue mining on their land for years with out settlement.
Lawyer for the Yindjibarndi Ngurra Aboriginal Corporation Tina Jowett advised AAP that Yindjibarndi individuals are in search of compensation for 2 forms of destruction: of nation, together with sacred websites, and of neighborhood.
The state of WA’s attorneys argued of their opening submissions that the Yindjibarndi’s declare for compensation beneath the Native Title Act is misguided and if there may be any fee, it needs to be made by Fortescue.
FMG contends that whereas the Yindjibarndi are entitled to compensation, it ought to have been claimed earlier than the warden’s court docket beneath the Mining Act.
And if the Yindjibarndi needs to be compensated beneath the Native Title Act, the mining large’s attorneys argue of their submissions, it should not be measured by reference to iron ore royalties however as a substitute calculated utilizing a hypothetical value for lack of native title pursuits.
Giving proof on nation, Yindjibarndi elder Charlie Cheedy defined to the court docket a few of their ideas and legal guidelines, together with yingaardt, the respect you give somebody.
“It does not owe you something, it’s like a gift from me and I don’t expect anything in return,” he stated.
“Galharra is the number one rule that everyone has to follow, when you have galharra, then you have respect.
“If you observe your galharra in the fitting means, that’s you, your self, exhibiting your respect, it is the important thing of Yindjibarndi individuals within the legislation.”
In 2003, the Yindjibarndi had their non-exclusive native title rights recognised by the Federal Court.
At the same time, they lodged another claim over adjacent land.
In 2017, the Federal Court recognised that the Yindjibarndi had exclusive possession over an additional area, including where most of the Solomon mine is located.
Fortescue appealed unsuccessfully and in 2020, the High Court refused the mining company special leave to appeal again.
FMG’s Solomon hub, made up of the Firetail, Kings Valley and Queens Valley iron ore mines, together have a production range of 65 to 70 million tonnes each year.
When Fortescue began planning the Solomon hub it started negotiating with the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC).
The corporation wanted 0.5 per cent of all future royalties, the standard rate paid by major iron ore miners in the Pilbara.
Fortescue offered $4 million per year in royalties and $6 million in housing, training and employment programs.
When YAC refused Fortescue’s offer, the mining company gave financial backing to a break-away group, Wirlu-Murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, which paid people $500 each to attend a meeting that voted in favour of a deal with FMG.
Fortescue began mining with no agreement with YAC, which had been named as the appropriate native title body by the Federal Court.
The split between the two groups caused massive rifts between Yindjibarndi people, including families, which Ms Jowett said are still present today.
She said the religious and cultural significance of the area was like if someone built a mine on top of St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, another over the Sydney Museum then another over Hyde Park.
“A mine’s been placed on each totally different aspect, culturally, spiritually and economically as a result of they can not hunt, camp or collect there any extra,” Ms Jowett stated.
“Every aspect of their lives has been destroyed by this mine.
“I see the emotion that comes out in Yindjibarndi people when they are on country because it is that old adage that says they are the land and the land is them because of those spirits, you can’t separate the two.”
During the on-country hearings, Yindjibarndi individuals sang and carried out ceremony to indicate the court docket their connections to the Ngurra (land), to their songlines, neighbouring language teams and one another.
Michael Woodley, CEO of the Yindjibarndi Ngurra Aboriginal Corporation (previously YAC), advised Ngaarda Media you could possibly bundle up the non secular connections, tradition and songlines and name it the Yindjibarndi faith.
“But it’s more than that for Yindjibarndi – we live it every day, this is our ngurra,” he stated.
“It’s not about the money. It’s about respecting and recognising that Yindjibarndi law should be considered … because we can’t have this thing operating on our country making billions of dollars while our people live back home in Third World conditions.”
In the ten years since Fortescue started mining at Solomon, the corporate has shipped off iron ore reportedly valued at roughly $50 billion, legally destroying dozens of serious Yindjibarndi websites within the course of.
FMG has not paid the Yindjibarndi individuals a single cent.
Neither Fortescue nor the WA solicitor-general’s workplace accepted an invite for an interview.
A Fortescue spokesperson stated in a press release that the corporate has supplied compensation to the Yindjibarndi individuals previously.
“And we continue to be ready to settle this matter by paying compensation,” they stated.
The query for the court docket now could be how a lot is that pink dust is price forward of closing submissions being heard in early 2024.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
