Map shows half of Queensland could be claimed under native title if legal action successful

Nearly 600,000 square kilometres of the state has been claimed already and more could be recognised under native title if current legal action by Indigenous groups is successful. SEE THE MAP

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More than half of Queensland could be claimed under native title if current legal action by Indigenous groups and individuals are successful.

National Native Title Tribunal maps show almost 600,000 square kilometres of the state has been claimed since 1994, two years after the High Court’s historic Mabo decision recognising native title.

There are more than 70 active claims for hundreds of thousands more square kilometres of land.

This week’s landmark Federal Court judgement recognising native title to the Kabi Kabi people for a vast tract of land stretching from Moreton Bay to the Fraser Coast has reignited debate over the controversial topic.

However, Indigenous leaders and supporters say Queensland has “nothing to fear” from native title recognition.

The Native Title Tribunal maps show 42 per cent of Queensland’s roughly 1.72 million sq km land mass has already been successfully claimed as native title with a further 14.8 per cent subject to current applications.

Of the almost 200 native title claims determined so far, native title has been found to exist on over 596,378 sq km of land. Native title has been found not to exist over 129,276 sq km, while it has been extinguished on 19,920 sq km of land.

Kabi Kabi people celebrating after the native title ruling, Brisbane on Monday. Picture: Liam Kidston

There are currently 72 Queensland-based native title applications before the Federal Court, representing more than 230,000 sq km of land.

Some of them date back more than two decades, with a claim initially lodged in 2001 by a group of Torres Strait Islanders for more than 1285 sq km of land and sea still listed as active.

Native Title Tribunal figures show there have been more than 700 native title applications since 1994, with more than half dismissed, discontinued or withdrawn.

According to the Queensland Department of Resources, 191 native title applications have been successfully determined in Queensland since Commonwealth legislation came into force in 1993.

A map showing the Native Title areas for the Kabi Kabi people on the Sunshine Coast, Gympie, Noosa and Fraser Coast regions.

About 66,400 sq km of land has been granted to First Nations people as “inalienable freehold” - the same controversially proposed for a reserve at Toobeah near Goondiwindi which has angered locals, amid disputed claims it would hand control of 95 per cent of the town to an Aboriginal corporation.

“Native title is not ‘won’ or ‘given’ – it’s the legal recognition of rights and interests that have existed for thousands of years,” a Department of Resources spokesman said

“Recognising native title has no impact on the property rights of people with existing leases or freehold.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the National Indigenous Australians Agency said native title rulings gave First Nations people “a seat at the table” when it came to discussions about future land uses and practices.

“Legal recognition and land rights gives Traditional Owners a seat at the table around the country, a say in the management of the land and allows First Nations to assert their cultural authority,” the statement said.

“Native title also creates protections for native title holders against prohibitive laws which can limit certain activities such as fishing and hunting allowing these activities for non-commercial, domestic or communal purposes.

“Prohibitive laws includes laws which ban the hunting or fishing of particular animals or requiring licences to do so.”