Traditional owners fear eviction if Tipperary Station land sold

A WEALTHY Melbourne QC is selling a 260ha parcel of freehold land at Tipperary Station, sparking concerns from traditional owners they are about to be evicted

The Foster family block on Tipperary Station. PICTURE: Supplied

A WEALTHY Melbourne QC is selling a 260ha parcel of freehold land at Tipperary Station, sparking concerns from traditional owners they are about to be evicted.

Michael Foster has lived on the edge of the land parcel for nearly four decades. His home sits on the block. Despite his connection, he has been described as a “squatter”.

Michael Foster, 60, outside of his home on the block at Tipperary Station, Northern Territory.

Mr Foster said he had been told if he wants to stay he has to pay the $300,000 price tag.

He said he had asked to explore the option of ‘excising’ the portion of the land which includes several family graves, including that of his mother and father, but was told it was not an option.

The NT News approached Melbourne QC Allan Myers for comment on two separate occasions but no response was forthcoming.

Mr Foster is now trying to raise money to buy the land.

Adding to the troubles, the family returned home last week to discover two generators and a quad bike had been stolen from the property about 20km from the Daly River township.

“If Allan Myers doesn’t come to the table then we are stuffed,” Mr Foster told the NT News. “We’ve lived here through any number of owners and operators including Warren Anderson and Dave Warriner. Dave Connolly, the station manager now, seems a fair man and he give me the first opportunity to buy. No one ever came and spoke to me about being on the land.

“When the land claim was done it was between the NT Government and the NLC, no one came along and put up fences. All of a sudden this portion of land, which is smack bang in the middle of a land trust, is now up for sale.

“We don’t have that sort of money to buy all the land and at the moment we are trying to raise that money because they won’t consider excising the land out. This is a plea for help to raise the money.”

The family has now engaged a lawyer to assist with the case and have been chasing an urgent meeting with Indigenous Affairs Minister Senator Nigel Scullion to seek assistance. So far the meeting request with Mr Scullion has been unsuccessful.

A spokesman for Mr Scullion said they were aware of the matter but did not offer a response on what actions they will take to assist. The family is hoping there could be funding made available through the Aboriginal Benefits Account.

Mr Foster’s father, Michael Senior, and mother Marjorie, were Kamu people, traditional owners of land which circles the parcel and is held in land trust.

It was granted back through land claim in the early 1980s. Both parents, Mr Foster Junior’s daughter and a niece are buried on the block. The existing home was originally built around 1982.

“It may not seem like much to others but it is my home and it is all I’ve got,” Mr Foster said. “The house is just inside the boundary. They couldn’t survey it to get it subdivided.”