Thursday 12th December, 2002

Yorta Yorta decision a further act of dispossession and cultural genocide

"The High Court's decision to reject the Yorta Yorta's native title appeal confirms that the Native Title Act is resulting in continuing acts of dispossession and cultural genocide", the National President of Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR), Phil Glendenning said today.

"In this case it is particularly staggering that not only have the Yorta Yorta been unfairly deprived of recognition of their culture and the rights which flow from it, but that they have been lumbered with the costs of their own dispossession.

"On this day our justice system has utterly failed the Yorta Yorta. "The decision demonstrates how the definition of native title is becoming increasingly more restricted and narrow and that the opportunities of Mabo are being steadily whittled away", Mr Glendenning said.

"It confirms that the most dispossessed have the least to gain from native title. "The odds are clearly stacked against native title claimants at every stage.

"The decision to award costs against the Yorta Yorta will also act as a disincentive for native title claimants to appeal adverse decisions", Mr Glendenning said.

"This decision, hard on the heels of the disappointing Mirriuwung-Gajerrong decision, once again underlines the urgent need for a new approach to native title and other matters of 'unfinished business' based on genuine negotiation with Indigenous people.

"What is required are negotiated solutions that recognise that a coexistence of Indigenous and non-indigenous interests is not only possible, but a desirable outcome. That would be real reconciliation in action.

"ANTaR calls on the Federal Government to rethink its approach to native title and to embark on meaningful negotiations with Indigenous peoples to secure solutions that properly respect Indigenous rights and interests, and that provide Indigenous communities with the means to address economic and social disadvantage", Mr Glendenning concluded.

Further information and interviews: Phil Glendenning 02 97641330; or David Cooper 0418 486310; 02 95556138