Latest news with #Bigambul
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Aboriginal group makes native title claim across six local government areas as residents lash out at secret land grab after learning about it in the newspaper
An Indigenous group have upset locals in a Queensland community over two native title claims totalling almost 8,000sq kilometres of land. The Bigambul people have submitted claims for 7,737sq km of land, which covers six local government areas surrounding Goondiwindi, a rural town on the border of Queensland and NSW. A claim has also been lodged for a 58ha parcel in Turallin, near Millmerran on the Darling Downs. This follows the controversial transfer of the town reserve in Toobeah to the Bigambul Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (BNTAC) by the former state Labor government as freehold land last year. Residents have shared their concerns about the local claim including a group of Millmerran locals and former Toowoomba mayor Paul Antonio. They say they're concerned about the impact the claims could have on the community and worry it could be divisive. Other concerns include the Turallin claim concerning a property already owned by the BNTAC. Millmerran resident Harvey Caldicott said locals felt they were being kept in the dark over the claims. The claim covers six local government areas surrounding Goondiwindi (pictured), a rural town on the border of Queensland and NSW 'What happened in Toobeah upset a lot of people and there are a few concerned people around here too,' he told The Courier Mail. 'There's no neighbourly contact with the Bigambul – we get nothing. You find out all this stuff in newspapers and hidden in documentation. 'There's no engagement whatsoever.' Gail Rielly, who is also a Millmerran resident, expressed her worry the native title claims would cause division among the local community. Mr Antonio said he doesn't believe Millmerran residents have any issue with the Indigenous community. He claimed native title claims can be 'very difficult' for the local community and hoped that would not be the case here. Newspaper ads displaying a July deadline for responding to the claims has added to local residents' concerns. A BNTAC spokeswoman said the Indigenous group 'welcomed open engagement' and was happy to discuss the claim with any concerned residents. Bigambul have an office in Goondiwindi and members of the community have been invited to reach out. The spokesperson said native title was not allowed over freehold land unless that land was owned or held in trust for Indigenous people, which is the case for the Turallin claim. 'There are several sites on the property which are significant to all Bigambul People, and since 2013 we have been using the property to pass on traditional knowledge to our young people,' she said. The Turallin property has been determined to be outside the area of the Bigambul native title. However, the spokesperson argued the anthropology of the property can be used as evidence to support it being a part of Bigambul traditional land. She said the larger 7,737sq km claim did not apply to freehold or leasehold land. This claim would cover the remaining parts of the McIntyre and Moonie River drainage basins which were not included in the original native title determination. The 210ha Toobeah reserve was transferred to the BNTAC last year under the Aboriginal Land Act. This act allows unallocated state land to be given to Indigenous groups as 'inalienable freehold', but it cannot be sold or mortgaged. Toobeah publican Michael Offerdahl fronted a campaign against the transfer and claimed it would result in 95 per cent of the town being given away. The Bigambul people said this was untrue and the reserve represented less than 1 per cent of the Toobeah district.
ABC News
24-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Bigambul elders caring for country through generational knowledge
Whether slapping mud pies on the banks of border rivers in south-west Queensland, or flattening out land with a toy steamroller made from a tin filled with dirt, Bigambul woman Leah Mann thought her childhood was all fun and games. Now an elder of her people, she realises those cherished moments were partaking in the ancient Aboriginal tradition of caring for country. "We had an old tobacco tin, our nana would put seeds in it, we would throw them down by the creek and that would grow food," Aunty Leah said. It is this multi-generational knowledge of the environment that the Bigambul Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, based in Goondiwindi, realised needed to be documented and shared in their new Caring for Country Plan. The traditional owners said the plan, released on Thursday, would guide the development of infrastructure projects across the region and lead to the ongoing protection, rehabilitation and restoration of country. Aunty Leah said they were also embracing new environmental protection methods to plan for the future. "We have a greenhouse, and we propagate all the seeds we have taken from our country. Those will be planted back where they used to grow," she said. "The waterways will look better because we'll add little things like mussels and some certain fish that will clean the waterways." Some strategies in the Caring for Country Plan have already seen success in the Goondiwindi area, including the use of fire to control invasive weeds. First Nations firefighter sector commander Jason Scott said they conducted cultural and mitigation burns to help control Harrisia cactus and the mother of millions succulent. "We conduct cool burns to boil the cactus, to get it back down to its root system," Mr Scott said. "Kangaroos will then eat that root system or farmers will put cows over the top. "With the mother of millions it's a toxic burn, so we have to be very careful and well-regulated with our breathing." Mr Scott said the Bigambul rangers carefully ensured no culturally significant sites were impacted. "The rangers do a replanting program on country to bring back some of the native trees that have been decimated due to over-logging and removal," he said. "We've got a lot of native trees coming back because in Australia our trees require fire to be able to propagate." The Caring for Country Plan took three years to develop and included input from the local community, industry and various government departments and representatives. Project director Jeremy Hall said they spent nine months building partnerships and collaborating with interested parties across the wider Goondiwindi area. "We use this as a very powerful tool when speaking to proponents coming on country, whether it's renewables or major infrastructure," Mr Hall said. "The first port of call is no harm. But if you're going to cause harm, take a balanced approach on how you will mitigate and not just offset it, but mitigate and care." Mr Hall said their objective was to foster support and understanding, connecting community and mob to country. "Bigambul is open for business … it's part of the nation-building initiatives," Mr Hall said. The Bigambul people, whose lands cover about 17,000 square kilometre of south-west Queensland, believe that a healthy country creates healthy people. Elder Regina Munn said it was their cultural obligation to keep the knowledge of the land and water intact for future generations. "When [the land] is dry, arid and scorched it's almost depressing," Aunty Regina said. "When the rain comes the earth is quenched, the rivers rise, the fish and birds are out. All of that combines to create a happy community. "It's not just about Bigambul land, it's about the land in general, and it's all the land in general that we have native title determination over."
