Traditional owner Jiritju Fourmile presents on-country evidence to Land Court of Queensland

A Far North traditional owner has told an unconventional court hearing about his environmental concerns if a Clive Palmer project goes ahead in Queensland.

FAR North aboriginal man Jiritju Fourmile has presented evidence to the Land Court of Queensland in an unprecedented legal proceeding.

Mr Fourmile, a Gimuy Walubara traditional owner, performed a welcome to country and smoking ceremony before appearing as a witness in a case brought to the court by Youth Verdict, an activist group, represented by the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO).

Youth Verdict is objecting on human rights grounds to a coal mine in western Queensland’s Galilee Basin proposed by Clive Palmer’s Waratah Coal.

Sean Ryan, managing lawyer at EDO, said the hearing put the lived experience of a First Nations witness at the heart of the argument.

“From a legal perspective, this case is groundbreaking. Never before has the Land Court of Queensland taken evidence on-Country from … cultural witnesses in a mining objection hearing,” he said.

“We argue this project will further impact Aboriginal … peoples’ ability to practise their culture and is therefore a limitation of their human rights.”

Murrawah Johnson, co-director of Youth Verdict, who are objecting to Clive Palmer's Waratah Coal project, says First Nations' voices must be a priority in conversation concerning "coal-fuelled climate change". Photo: Isaac McCarthy

Fleur Kingham, president of the Land Court of Queensland, presided over the official sitting and conducted it in accordance with traditional aboriginal protocol.

Mr Fourmile led the court on a tour of Gimuy lands and spoke of ecological death and disappearance caused by man-made climate change. He presented direct evidence of ecological demise that he said had consequences for the rights of Gimuy Walubara people to practise traditional culture and pass on generational lore.

“Our family group has an obligation to look after this area,” he said.

“Whether that be the water quality, whether that be the animals in the area, whether that be recording the unnatural, spontaneous weather events that happen around here. We have an obligation to share that information within the family group and rectify what’s wrong.”

Jiritju Fourmile led the Land Court of Queensland on a tour of his traditional lands and told the court ecological demise caused by climate change was a threat to his culture and ability to pass on lore to his daughter Armina Fourmile. Photo: Isaac McCarthy

Mr Fourmile frequently instructed the court to examine parts of the natural landscape surrounding Edmonton and White Rock for signs of demise, which included the absence of spectacled flying foxes from historical roosts and recession of mangrove thickets.

He mostly presented evidence to the court in an independent manner, although he was sometimes examined by counsel for the prosecution and, on occasion, by Judge Kingham.

The court will hear Youth Verdict’s closing arguments on June 15, 2022.

Originally published as Traditional owner Jiritju Fourmile presents on-country evidence to Land Court of Queensland