Walalakoo Response to WA State Government Fracking Announcement

Walalakoo Aboriginal Corporation (WAC), the Registered Native Title Body Corporate for the Nyikina Mangala Native Community, the custodians of the land and waters to the north and south of the western section of the Mardoowarra Fitzroy River, makes the following comments in relation to the recent decision of the WA State Government to permit fracking in parts of Western Australia.

“Walalakoo Aboriginal Corporation has significant concerns that the fracking ban covering 98 per cent of the state does not apply to many of the petroleum titles located across the Nyikina Mangala traditional lands.

We also question how a scientific led report can ban fracking across 98 per cent of the state, yet allow the practice on the remaining 2 per cent of the state’s land mass.

Walalakoo supports the principle of free, prior and informed consent and welcomes the apparent veto right for landowners. However, it remains unclear how this right to veto will be applied in practice. Walalakoo calls for urgent action by the government to enshrine this right to veto in legislation.

Walalakoo requests the WA State Government to stop all fracking activities until appropriate consultations with affected land owners has occurred in relation to all aspects of the new policy.”

Nyikina Mangala People have called for a ban on fracking on their traditional lands until there is extensive scientific evidence that supports it can be carried out safely. The Corporation and its Members take their Native Title responsibilities very seriously and each decision is considered with our cultural, social and environmental values at the forefront.

Media Enquiries: Damien Parriman 0402 577 415

The Martuwarra Council calls for water allocation moratorium

This is a copy of a combined statement from a meeting of Traditional Owner groups for the Fitzroy River Catchment. The meeting was held May 15 - 16, 2018, in Fitzroy Crossing.

Nyikina Mangala Traditional Owners were among those who met with State Government representatives in Perth during the first ever gathering of the newly formed Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council. 

Traditional Owners met in Fitzroy Crossing on the 15th and 16th May 2018 and called for a collaborative catchment scale approach to manage the challenges, risks and opportunities related to northern development.  

We have a responsibility as a nation and globally to learn from the Australian Murray Darling Basin story and we can prevent a disaster in the Fitzroy River Catchment and the urgency is now.
 
Traditional Owners assert the Fitzroy River Declaration (2016) establishes the fundamental principles and philosophy for a cultural and environmental heritage governance model for sustainable river and catchment management. It is a collective response from Traditional Owners to maintain the spiritual, cultural and environmental health of the catchment, providing the basis for a collaborative approach for an inclusive water governance model and catchment management plan.  

Traditional Owners call for the following: 

• Recognising that the Principles from the FITZROY RIVER DECLARATION of November 2016 reflect the values and aspirations of Traditional Owner groups across the Fitzroy River Catchment.
• Recognising that the ultimate decision-making responsibility for the land, sea and waters encompassed within the Fitzroy River Catchment resides with the Prescribed Bodies Corporates and Registered Native Title Claimants that are responsible for each of the Native Title Groups in the Fitzroy Catchment.
• The meeting endorses a proposal that the WA State Government legislates for the future management of the Fitzroy River Catchment with legislation that formally recognises that the Fitzroy River is central to the law, culture, traditional practice and responsibilities of the Traditional Owners who are the custodians of the land and waters of the Fitzroy River Catchment.
• That the groups representing native title interests at the meeting agree to establish a Council of Traditional Owner Groups with traditional responsibility for land and waters within the Fitzroy River Catchment and to approach the Commonwealth and WA State Governments to engage with the proposed Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council in matters relating to the development of a comprehensive Fitzroy River Catchment Management Plan.

• The meeting calls on the WA State Government to recognise the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council as the agreed forum for the WA Government, its agencies and other third-party interests to engage with in matters relating to Aboriginal interests in the future planning and management of the Fitzroy River Catchment. 

• The meeting calls on the WA Government to initiate the comprehensive Fitzroy River Catchment Management Planning process in which Aboriginal interests are at the table from the outset and involved in all aspects of future decision making in relation to the future of the Fitzroy River Catchment. 

• The meeting requests the Commonwealth and WA State Governments to adequately resource the operations and deliberations of the MFRC to allow it to formulate informed policies and sustainable positions regarding the planning and sustaining of the Fitzroy River Catchment and to enable the Council to obtain the consent of PBCs and Registered Native Title Claimant Groups for the adoption of the Management Plan. 

• That a Moratorium be placed on all future Water Allocations in the Fitzroy River Catchment until a Martuwarra Fitzroy River Catchment Management Plan is completed and implemented. 

• The meeting recognises that the KLC as the Native Title Representative Body has a role in supporting the deliberations of the Native Title Traditional Owner Groups in the Fitzroy River Catchment and that the KLC should be resourced appropriately to fulfil their responsibilities as the Representative Body in supporting the MFRC and the development of the Martuwarra Catchment Plan. 

  At the May 15 and 16 meeting, the establishment of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council was endorsed by representatives from Traditional Owner groups of the Fitzroy River Catchment, from the Fitzroy River’s headwaters in the northern Kimberley ranges to the river mouth near Derby. These groups include: Wilinggin, Kija, Bunuba, Gooniyandi, Walmajarri, Nyikina Mangala and Warrwa.

Back to Country Trip 2018

Great hunting, feed, great stories, and great to be back on country!!  A fortnight ago, the Nyikina Mangala Rangers in partnership with Yiriman, went on a back to country trip to the edge of Great Sandy Desert. Several Traditional Owners attended, sharing cultural songs and stories with the young people. Everyone was also involved in the annual protection burn around the outstation infrastructure to minimise impacts from late season wild fires.

Our river: culturally important river sites on Nyikina Mangala Country

This April, Nyikina Mangala Rangers and Walalakoo Aboriginal Corporation visited and recorded the names and locations of a number of culturally important river sites on Nyikina Mangala country, in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The project was supported by the Kimberley Land Council and a researcher from the Northern Australian Environmental Science Program (NESP). We hope you enjoy!

Development by design: What are our cultural and social values, and how can we protect them when it comes to development?

Large-scale natural resource development projects profoundly transform environments, communities, cultures and economies, and often generate social conflict. Impact Assessments play a critical role in limiting impacts from development projects to both the environment and the communities, but often with limited consideration of social and cultural values. In partnership with The Nature Conservancy, Walalakoo Aboriginal Corporation and Nyikina Mangala Traditional Owners developed a novel framework for the integration of biodiversity, social and cultural values in the impact assessment process. The Development-by-Design decision making framework and impact analysis tool is intended to enable better decision-making and facilitate free, prior, and informed consent in the development and land use planning process. Click the picture above or here for a link to the video.