Native Title declaration for Darumbal people over land in Marlborough

VIDEO: It was an emotional day for Central Queensland’s Darumbal people as one thing they’ve waited 26 years for finally came to fruition. Read here what it means.

It was an emotional day for Central Queensland’s Darumbal people as something they’ve waited 26 years for finally came to fruition – they were declared the Native Title Holders over about 10,365 ha of land in the Marlborough area.

The Federal Court of Australia conducted a special court proceeding at Rockhampton Regional Council chambers this morning, December 1, 2023, where about 50 Darumbal people heard the declaration.

The area declared was referred to as Part B, with Part A declared in June 2016, encompasses 12 parcels of land and waters in Central Queensland, including the Princhester Conservation Park and the Old Marlborough town site.

The two parts were separated by court order in March 2013 as it was subject to an overlapping native title claim, and Part A (encompassing much land between the Bruce Highway and Shoalwater Bay) was resolved in 2019.

A map of the Darumbal Native Title Part B area in the Marlborough area. The Native Title declaration for Part B was made in the Federal Court of Australia at a special sitting at Rockhampton Regional Council on December 1, 2023.

Darumbal Elder Aunty Sally Vea Vea spoke with The Morning Bulletin about the importance of this declaration and what it means for the Darumbal people and Central Queensland residents.

She said it meant the federal and state governments now recognised “we are the traditional owners of the Darumbal country”.

“It’s been an emotional day,” Aunty Sally said.

“It’s an exciting day.

“It means we have cultural heritage over all of Darumbal country, but it doesn’t mean we can go in and take somebody’s backyard.”

She said while the word “owner” is used, they were really more custodians of the land than owners and the native title was about being able to care for that land again.

Aunty Sally said there was only a certain amount of country from Part A (she thinks about five per cent) that they got back “and most of that isn’t very good country anyway”.

She explained that now, with the declaration, if a someone wanted to develop part of the land, they would have to take into consideration Darumbal’s cultural heritage on the development site.

Aunty Sally said this would be were the Darumbal people camped or find scar trees at the site or find other Darumbal artefacts.

She said the Darumbal people will go in and “GPS it all”.

Father of 10 and Darumbal man Wade Mann said their Elders had been fighting since 1993 to get all the Darumbal land back.

Darumbal man Wade Mann attended the determination hearing where the Darumbal people were formally recognised by the Federal Court of Australia as Native Title Holders over about 10,365 hectares of land in the Marlborough area.

He said it means they could now “protect that land, look after that land and preserve it for our future, for our grandchildren and great, great grandchildren”.

“We look after the land, the trees, the waterways, the country,” Mr Mann said.

He said the area was an important part of the Darumbal people, “a symbol of who we are with the lily plants, green tree frogs and the waterways as part of our survival”.

“Our people have been surviving here for over 50,000 years with the water … looking after the water, protecting the water,” Mr Mann said.

He said looking after the water involved looking after fish and other animals that use the water.

“It’s really important to protect the trees,” Mr Mann added.

“Because the trees are a great part of our land. Helps our land to survive.”

He said that protection also involved making sure there was no hunting or killing of Darumbal animals and looking after them for future generations.

“A lot of that country has been desecrated over the years and been destroyed,” Mr Mann said.

“So it’s about us hopefully getting the animals back in there: the koala bears, the kangaroos, the emus … all of the different animals; and looking after them.”

Aunty Sally said while there were many Darumbal people at the event this morning, there were some that were not.

“We have to remember is those who were lost along the way are no longer with us,” she said.

“That makes it very sad because they fought for this too.

“They fought hard for it and yet, they are not here today.”

Aunty Sally said there was another Native Title claim for the Darumbal area yet to be lodged which encompasses three small blocks of land which she thinks may have been cattle property.