The Sydney Morning Herald Marine native title ruling opens way for sea claims Date: 04/12/99 By DEBRA JOPSON The Federal Court yesterday confirmed that native title can exist in the seas off Australia beyond the low-water mark when it dismissed a Federal Government appeal seeking to overturn the landmark Croker Island decision. In a Full Bench judgment delivered in Sydney on the test case known as ''the Mabo of the seas'', the court left the way for the 108 sea claims now before the Native Title Tribunal, including 13 in NSW, to proceed. However, the Northern Land Council instantly issued a statement saying it expected the native title holders to appeal against the decision in the High Court because the judges yesterday dismissed their attempt to gain exclusive possession of the sea over which they have rights. The Attorney-General, Mr Williams, did not rule out an appeal by the Commonwealth, reiterating that the Government ''maintains its position that native title rights do not extend beyond the seaward limit of the States or Territories''. He said: ''The decision is complex and the Government is considering its implications.'' Both the Federal Government and the Aboriginal claimants had appealed the original decision Justice Howard Olney made in the Federal Court last year. He found that native title existed in both the sea and sea bed over about 2,000 kilometres adjoining Croker Island, but that this gave the Aborigines involved only limited rights. Commercial fishermen, for instance, could not be excluded from these seas. Yesterday's decision was a loss for the Federal Government in its bid to restrict the application of native title, but it welcomed the very finding against which the native title holders will probably appeal. But the Aboriginal claimants also lost when the court dismissed their appeal, in which they had sought exclusive possession of the seas around Croker Island. They also argued they should be able to control access to sea resources and to hunt and fish for trade. The judgment yesterday rejected this. The president of the Native Title Tribunal, Mr Graeme Neate, said the decision would allow ongoing mediation of all the applications covering either sea or a combination of land and sea, while not threatening the fishing industry in any way. The chairman of the NLC, Mr Galarrwuy Yunupingu, welcomed the recognition of native title existing in offshore areas following arguments by the Commonwealth that it stopped at the low-water mark. The extent of that recognition was still in question, he said. ''We will continue to argue that native title over seas should allow exclusive possession,'' he said. In a split 2-1 judgment, Justice Bryan Beaumont and Justice John von Doussa found that both appeals failed, but Justice Ron Merkel dissented. Justice Merkel said he would have dismissed the Federal Government's appeal, allowed the appeal by Ms Mary Yarmirr and other native title claimants and sent the matter back to the trial judge, Justice Howard Olney, for further hearing. The chairman of the Australian Seafood Industry Council, representing commercial fishers, Mr Nigel Scullion, said he hoped there would not be an appeal. ''I am absolutely overjoyed about it. The original decision was a win-win for everyone,'' he said. A prominent lawyer involved in native title cases said all native title applications involving sea rights would have been placed in jeopardy if the court had found for the Commonwealth. This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited. ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
