1 TUTORIAL: NATIVE TITLE Question 1 Read the Wallace Weir and McCrimmon, para 3.50 and 3.60, and the preamble to the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth). Then consider the two quotes below: "The conventional Western notion of property relations holds that ownership bestows various rights, such as the right to exclude and the right to alienate, and that these rights must exist for possession to be regarded as a legitimate property relationship ... And [In this chapter] Aboriginal witnesses [have] explained the fundamental nature of proprietary interests as a spiritual bequest. Property relations are thus subservient to the fundamental social relationship with the sacred ancestral past from which the legacy is derived and which bestows not just property rights, but a social world, and for particular people, arduous religious duties and responsibilities which are transmissible across generations. Thus, constituent property rights are found to be subservient to the fundamental fact of proprietary interests as 'a sacred endowment. '1 In your groups, or with the person next to you, discuss some of the major differences between Western and Indigenous conceptions/relationships with land? Question 2 The Holland family are the owners of Cattle Freely Pty Ltd - a corporation that runs beef cattle on a pastoral lease property in northern Queensland. The property is colloquially known as 'Northern Downs' and has been the subject of a Crown Lease since 1968. The lease term is 60 years and is due to expire in 2028. Under the terms of the lease, granted under the (then) Land Act 1962 (Qld), and subject to the provisions of that Act (and subsequent legislation), the Holland family are entitled to establish a homestead on the property, graze a maximum of 300 head of cattle, and construct associated infrastructure necessary for grazing (sheds, fences, livestock feeding stations etc.). Last week, the family received written notice that a Federal Court application has been initiated seeking a determination that Native Title exists over an area including Northern Downs. The exact details of the claim are unclear at this stage, though suggest that the claimants are asserting 'non- exclusive' rights to utilise the land, in particular for ceremonial purposes. There are believed to be some sacred Indigenous sites located on the land. The Holland family are unsure what this means for their future use and enjoyment of Northern Downs and whether their pastoral lease is still valid. Write a short letter (500-600 words) to John and Debbie Holland, explaining whether Northern Downs could potentially be subject to Native Title. In your letter address the following: • What Native Title is, and how it is the same, or differs, from a common law property right? • What was decided by the High Court in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) [1992] HCA 23, the Wik Peoples v The State of Queensland and Ors (1996) 187 CLR 1 and to what extent these decisions are still relevant today? 1 Langton, M. (2010). The estate as duration: 'Being in place' and aboriginal property relations in areas