NT Government and Northern Land Council broker major Blue Mud Bay deal, fishos to benefit

RECREATIONAL fishers will have access to a vast tract of Aboriginal-owned coastline until at least the end of 2022, after the Territory government and Northern Land Council brokered a major ‘good faith’ deal

Northern Land Council chairman Samuel Bush-Blanasi and Chief Minister Michael Gunner at a bridge overlooking the Victoria River in Timber Creek

RECREATIONAL fishers will have access to a vast tract of Aboriginal-owned coastline until at least the end of 2022, after the Territory government and Northern Land Council (NLC) brokered a major “good faith” deal.

The highly charged Blue Mud Bay negotiations, which stemmed from a High Court decision in 2008 that gave traditional owners exclusive access rights to intertidal zones over Aboriginal land, has evolved into a firm action plan.

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The government and the NLC signed off on the Blue Mud Bay Implementation Plan just a day before caretaker mode kicked in.

NLC chief executive Marion Scrymgour said the “hard yards” would begin after the August 22 election, and warned there would, reluctantly, be a “war” if the next government did not honour the new plan.

Arnhem MLA and Indigenous Affairs Minister Selena Uibo, Northern Land Council chairman Samuel Bush-Blanasi, Chief Minister Michael Gunner and Northern Land Council chief executive Marion Scrymgour. Picture: NLC/ Bob Gosford

Under the agreed terms, the NT government will provide up to $10 million to help the NLC establish an Aboriginal fishing entity that creates jobs and economic pros-perity for community.

The government will also “let the NLC see its homework” on planned amendments to the Fisheries Act, which will be drafted and introduced to parliament by the end of 2022.

It would also expand Aboriginal Coastal Licences to increase commercial catch across all managed fisheries, including enabling greater incubation of small-scale commercial fishing in com-munities.

Kids play in the water at Blue Mud Bay, where a sea rights flag can be seen waving at the intertidal mark Picture: Matt Garrick

In exchange, the NLC will extend the fishing permit waiver until at least December 2022, while it consults with traditional owners on a long-term, permanent solution.

Ms Scrymgour said the plan was about moving beyond the rhetoric of “jobs and economic development” and discussing what this meant for First Nations peoples. She said the new agreement needed to stand the test of time against any incoming government.

“If any of the governments do that … we don’t want to go to war but we will go to war,” she said.

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“Because it is about Aboriginal people in good faith, making sure that if we want the amateur fishermen to have access into those waters, we need to all work together to make sure that can happen.”

Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the custodians of the NT’s waters deserved more opportunities for jobs on country, and the action plan would deliver that.