Background
The Wakka Wakka People applied for a native title determination in 2012. The claim was later administratively divided into Parts A, B and C. Consent determinations for Parts A and B were made in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Part C concerned land and waters in Queensland’s North Burnett region, including areas near Mundubbera and Gayndah that had been the subject of further negotiations concerning Crown-to-Crown grants. The applicant, the State of Queensland, North Burnett Regional Council and Ergon Energy agreed on a proposed determination under s 87A of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth).
The Court’s Holding
Justice Rangiah made the agreed consent determination. The Court held that native title exists in the Part C determination area and is held by the Wakka Wakka People identified by descent from the ancestors listed in the determination.
The recognised rights are non-exclusive and include access, travel, temporary camping, hunting, fishing, gathering, taking natural resources and water for personal, domestic and non-commercial communal purposes, conducting ceremonies, maintaining significant places, teaching, holding meetings and lighting domestic fires. They remain subject to Commonwealth and Queensland law, traditional laws and customs, and specified other interests; they do not include rights to minerals or petroleum.
The Court found the statutory requirements for a s 87A determination were met, the parties had freely and informedly agreed in good faith, and the proposed orders were within power and appropriate. It appointed the Wakka Wakka Native Title Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC as the prescribed body corporate to hold the native title in trust.
Key Takeaways
- The Court completed a consent native title determination for Part C of the Wakka Wakka #4 claim.
- The native title rights are non-exclusive and yield to inconsistent valid interests, including local-government and electricity infrastructure interests.
- The determination recognises the same Wakka Wakka native title holders and substantially the same rights as the earlier Part A and Part B determinations.
Why It Matters
The decision brings the remaining negotiated portion of the long-running Wakka Wakka #4 claim within an approved native title determination. It illustrates the Federal Court’s role under s 87A: assessing whether an informed, good-faith agreement satisfies the Act, rather than conducting a merits trial of the claim.
For landholders and public authorities, the orders preserve identified existing interests while recognising continuing non-exclusive native title rights across the determination area.