The Commonwealth has lost a high court battle over whether it should be liable for compensation for lost Native Title rights over a mining lease on the Gove Peninsula in north-east Arnhem Land. The case was begun by the late Dr Yunupingu on behalf of the Gumatj people in 2019 as bauxite mining operations began to wind up.
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00:00The aim of the Goumach was to set up a future economic base off the back of extinguished
00:08native title rights.
00:10It was a bold move, with the Klan hoping to secure just-terms compensation under the Constitution.
00:17With the decommissioning to run for several years yet, the Goumach won the first round
00:22of their battle in the federal court, which broke new ground, finding native title was
00:28property and its extinguishment was an acquisition.
00:32The Commonwealth appealed and lost, including an argument that there were no just-terms
00:37available in the territory.
00:39Goumach leader Jawa Yunupingu and his brother were in Canberra for the historic ruling.
00:44I also want to acknowledge my late brother, who has been the mastermind of all this.
00:51And he was the one that had the vision for the future of my people and our children and
01:00their children.
01:01But it's not over yet.
01:02The courts will still have to decide what just-terms means in the context of the case.
01:08And there's still a native title claim to be determined.