Bardi and Jawi people seek government help to secure tenure on remote communities

The traditional owners of a stretch of Kimberley coast believe they can join the mainstream economy if archaic land rules covering WA’s remote Aboriginal communities are unravelled.

The Bidyadanga Aboriginal community, WA. Picture: Colin Murty

The traditional owners of a stunning stretch of Kimberley coast believe they can join the mainstream economy if archaic land rules covering Western Australia’s remote Aboriginal communities are unravelled.

The Bardi and Jawi people are asking the Cook and Albanese governments to fund the planning required to change complicated land tenure on their homelands. If they get secure tenure over their remote communities, the Bardi and Jawi people could buy their own homes for the first time and invite investors into their fledgling tourism businesses.

The Bardi and Jawi people live on a portion of the vast Aboriginal Lands Trust of WA.

Despite the name, the trust is not controlled by the Aboriginal people who live on it. Rather, it is a relic of the mission era that has been overseen by governments from both sides of politics since 1972. Divesting trust land to traditional owners has been bipartisan policy for decades.

The WA Labor government is helping the people of the state’s largest Aboriginal community, Bidyadanga, to get free from the Aboriginal Lands Trust. That community is on its way to becoming a town with a higher standard of power, water and the potential for home ownership and outside investment. Currently, all residents of remote Aboriginal communities in WA are renters for life.

The WA opposition’s Aboriginal affairs spokesman Neil Thomson said Labor’s divestment program was well behind schedule and the Liberals had adopted a practical approach to remote communities ahead of the state election in March.

“In line with our principles of private enterprise family wealth creation, we will also give priority to future economic opportunities and improving tenure security for those that wish to build their own homes and develop businesses,” he said.