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🇦🇺 Australia /Culture & Society

WA traditional owners say they are being ignored amid developments

From ABC Australia · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • A traditional owner group in Western Australia claims a major native title agreement has led to them being ignored on their own land.
  • The Njaki Njaki people say the South West Native Title Settlement has excluded them from consultations on significant projects.
  • They allege their cultural authority and potential benefits from developments are being dismissed by a regional Aboriginal corporation.

A traditional owner group in Western Australia alleges that a landmark native title agreement has resulted in their exclusion from crucial decision-making processes on their ancestral lands. The Njaki Njaki people, from the Wheatbelt region, contend that the South West Native Title Settlement, established in 2021 and hailed as the most comprehensive in Australian history, has effectively sidelined smaller dialect groups.

We've been denied, we've been disrespected, our rights and interests have been dismissed and just pushed aside.

— Michael HaydenDescribing the alleged exclusion of the Njaki Njaki people from consultations and benefits.

Despite significant investment flowing into projects like the Collgar wind farm, upgrades to the Goldfields Pipeline, the Merredin Big Battery, and the Kondinin wind farm in the eastern Wheatbelt, the Njaki Njaki people assert their rights and cultural authority are being disregarded. They claim that when project developers approach the Ballardong Aboriginal Corporation (BAC), which legally represents a large portion of the land use agreement area, their own group is not involved in consultations regarding cultural heritage on Njaki Njaki country.

Michael Hayden, a Njaki Njaki Noongar man, expressed deep frustration, stating, "We've been denied, we've been disrespected, our rights and interests have been dismissed and just pushed aside." He criticized the practice of individuals speaking on behalf of other groups' territories, emphasizing that traditional customs prohibit such actions. Hayden also highlighted that the Njaki Njaki community, numbering in the hundreds, is being deprived of financial benefits, training, and employment opportunities intended for local traditional owners.

You've got people speaking on other people's country.

— Michael HaydenCriticizing the practice of representatives speaking for groups on whose land they have no traditional connection.

Concerns raised by the Njaki Njaki group are echoed by Tracey de Grussa, a former chairperson of the BAC. She stated that she witnessed a "non-acknowledgement" of the Njaki Njaki people within the corporation during her tenure. Attempts by the ABC to obtain comment from project proponents regarding their engagement with traditional owners in the Njaki Njaki agreement area were unsuccessful, with no information provided.

As Aboriginal people, under our customs and protocols, you never go into someone else's country speaking on their heritage.

— Michael HaydenExplaining traditional protocols regarding cultural heritage and land.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Australia. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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