Elwyn James Mann pleads not guilty to illegally killing two dugongs at Clairview
A Clairview traditional custodian has weighed in on a landmark native title case against an elder from a different tribe accused of illegally killing two dugongs.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
DAY 2: A Koinjamal descendant has weighed in on a landmark native title case where a Darumbal elder hunted and killed two dugongs within a Great Barrier Reef conservation area off Clairview.
Elwyn James Mann is charged with illegally taking and killing the dugong in 2018, but he has pleaded not guilty and argues he was asserting his traditional native title rights.
The Koinjamal people are the traditional owners of Koinmerburra country, which includes Clairview, Mackay Magistrates Court heard.
Koinmerburra spokeswoman and adviser Samarla Deshong gave evidence her people have had a moratorium for the waters off Clairview for about 15 years now “because it’s a dugong protection area”.
Mr Mann, who is a Darumbal elder, took the dugong on July 21, 2018 for a funeral ceremony.
The court heard he believed the area was a “shared space” between Koinjamal and Darumbal people, giving him rights to hunt in the area.
Ms Deshong said the Mann family “most definitely” had a connection to Koinjamal country dating back to the 1930s via her great grandmother.
“Does that give Mr Mann rights … (or) traditional rights in Koinjamal country?” QPW prosecutor barrister Rob Carroll asked.
“No … it gives him interests,” she said, explaining Koinjamal people had a bloodline connection to the country.
“My family was born in Rockhampton (which is Darumbal country), they were brought up there but they didn’t have rights. They could have historical rights, but really our bloodline was Koinjamal country, so they have rights there,” Ms Deshong said.
“Them being brought up in Rockhampton doesn’t mean they could speak for Darumbal country.”
She told the court hunting dugong could occur in Koinjamal sea country by someone identified as a traditional Koinjamal hunter or if someone had applied for and been granted a permit to do so by Koinjamal elders.
The court heard there had only been one permit granted since the system was in place in 2012 and it was not to Mr Mann.
In 2016, the Federal Court handed down a native title determination for the Darumbal people with their estate bordering Koinmerburra country at the Styx River, about 42km south of Clairview. However the determination did not include any sea country.
Mr Mann’s barrister Josh Creamer, reading from the determination, said the Federal Court found the Koinmerburra people to be a part of Darumbal, to which Ms Deshong disagreed.
“We chose not to be a part of the Darumbal claim … because we would have had to give up our rights and the rest of Koinmerburra country and we weren’t prepared to do that,” she said.
“We have our own identity.”
The court heard there was currently no native title claim or determination for Koinmerburra country, and Mr Mann believed his connection to country stretched beyond the boundaries of the Darumbal determination to include St Lawrence and Clairview where his ancestors lived.
Great Barrier Reef indigenous compliance assistant director Peta Ross said Mr Mann had told her Darumbal men had used the Clairview area as a hunting ground for a couple of generations as “a direct result of a relationship with the Koinjamal people who were the traditional custodians for that area”.
Ms Ross gave evidence during the two-day hearing about a conversation she had with Mr Mann in 2014.
“And further he acknowledged that in undertaking any activities for that area the traditional lore system requires him to seek permission from the Koinjamal people,” Ms Ross said.
“He said there was a close relationship between the Darumbal and the Koinjamal and that the connection that the Darumbal men … was historical in nature, not a native title right.”
In his closing argument, Mr Creamer said his client was only bound by his own traditional lores of the Darumbal people and not of any other traditional custodians.
Mr Carroll has argued there was “no evidence” to support Mr Mann having any native title rights over the Clairview area or that he held the reasonable belief he did hold those rights.
Magistrate Damien Dwyer reserved his decision to a date in October.
DAY 1: A Darumbal elder has argued he had native title rights to hunt and kill dugong in waters off Clairview, south of Mackay.
Elwyn James Mann was found with two dead dugongs under a tarp in a tinny in 2018.
He has pleaded not guilty in Mackay Magistrates Court to entry or use for a prohibited purpose – taking of natural or cultural resources, claiming he has native title rights to hunt in the area.
Clairview retiree Leonard Mondon told the court he saw four people in a tinny – “one on the front with a spear” – circling within a “yellow zone” in waters between Clairview and Flock Pigeon Island on July 21, 2018.
Mr Mondon said he rang police.
When then-acting senior constable Michael Lynn later questioned Mr Mann, from Joskeleigh, over the dead dugong, he said “this is my country” and he had native title rights, as captured by a police body worn camera and played in court.
“We wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t our place,” Mr Mann told Senior Constable Lynn, also adding he was a Darumbal elder.
Mr Mann told the officer he had used a spear hunting for the dugong “the traditional way” and they were to be used as part of a funeral ceremony, the court heard.
Former Queensland Parks and Wildlife senior investigator Emma Hutton told the court during her investigation into the incident she determined the Koinjamal people were the traditional owners over the area where the dugongs were killed.
Under questioning by Mr Mann’s barrister Josh Creamer, Ms Hutton told the court she did not believe there was a current native title claim or native title determination over the area.
“You would understand for the purposes of native title this is what’s described as an unclaimed area?” Mr Creamer asked.
“I can’t comment,” Ms Hutton said.
The court heard there was a native title determination for the Darumbal people, which Ms Hutton said based on native title maps was further south from Clairview.
Mr Creamer asked Ms Hutton if she had contacted any Darumbal people, to which she said no.
“You didn’t make any inquiries as to whether Darumbal people assert an interest in that area?” Mr Creamer asked.
“No,” she said.
The court heard Ms Hutton had offered Mr Mann an interview, to which he declined.
Mr Creamer asked Ms Hutton if she was aware Mr Mann’s ancestors had lived and hunted in the Clairview area, to which she said no.
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority policy and planning direction Belinda Jago gave evidence that there was not a Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreement in place at Clairview.
A TUMRA is a community-based plan for the management of traditional resources, and show how GBR traditional owner groups work with federal and state government to manage traditional use activities on their sea country.
The hearing continues on Wednesday.
Woman rescued from vehicle taken to Rockhampton Hospital
A woman who was trapped in a car on a busy Rockhampton road after a single vehicle accident has been rushed to hospital in a stable condition.
Shock decision in accused nude church arsonist case
More than one year after a 33-year-old man accused of setting a church alight was found naked in a Central Qld parkland popular with families, his case has taken one last shocking turn.