Information blackout: Details of Indigenous land claims withheld

The state government has ­refused to release details on a raft of Aboriginal freehold land claims for Queensland towns, blocking access to ­dozens of documents.

The border town of Toobeah

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The state government has ­refused to release details on a raft of Aboriginal freehold land claims for Queensland towns, blocking access to ­dozens of documents over fears it could trample First Nations groups’ intellectual property rights and breach dead ­people’s privacy.

It follows a Right to Information application by The Courier-Mail for documents relating to expressions of interest by Indigenous corporations and groups for freehold transfers of state land across Queensland.

The transfers, made under the Aboriginal Land Act, have caused uproar in communities, including Eurong and Happy Valley on K’gari (Fraser Island) and Toobeah near Goondiwindi.

In a letter advising that the documents would be kept secret, an RTI officer said she had received advice from the ­Native Title and Indigenous Land Services unit that land transfer applications were treated confidentially.

It said the applications may contain culturally sensitive material about a person’s or group’s connection to the land, which triggers intellectual property of the applicant.

Land transfer applications could also name dead people, “which if released would breach the privacy of the deceased (and) may offend Aboriginal people in accordance with culture or custom”.

The unit said land transfer applications might also cause conflict among Aboriginal people if they were made by individuals or groups who were viewed by others as having no connection to the land.

K’gari is another land transfer site.

The RTI officer said she had decided that releasing the information would breach the confidence of Aboriginal people.

“I am satisfied the information was provided to the department on a confidential basis for the purpose of consulting and considering the views of Aboriginal people particularly concerned with the land, on the understanding it would not be used by the department for any other purpose,” she wrote.

The Department of Resources twice requested extensions of time to process The Courier-Mail’s RTI application before saying it was refusing access to all of the 163 documents that had been uncovered.

Natural Resources Minister Scott Stewart revealed earlier this year that there had been expressions of interest for Aboriginal land transfers in 15 townships, but his department refused to say where, citing the privacy of Aboriginal groups.

The Courier-Mail then lodged an RTI application before Mr Stewart tabled the list of towns in state parliament after a question on notice from former One Nation MP Steve Andrew.

Mr Stewart said 6.7 million hectares of land, or 3.93 per cent of the state, had been transferred under the Aboriginal Land Act or Torres Strait Islander Land Act since 1991.

This included 11 parcels of land transferred in 2023-24.

Mr Stewart and Premier Steven Miles defended the land transfers in parliament.

Mr Stewart said the land “can never be sold” and was held in trust for First Nations people.