Represent!

Native title by definition is recognition by Australian common law that indigenous Australians have rights and interests to their lands that derive from their traditional laws and customs. Since the Native Title Act was introduced in 1993, native title has been granted across about 30 per cent of the Australian continent, and yet many nonindigenous Australians misunderstand what that means and what is involved. Some go so far as to be envious of what they falsely believe Aboriginal people receive through native title; forgetting what was taken away.

The burden of proof for a native title application is onerous. Traditional owners and elders must provide evidence that the land has been handed down from generation to generation since before colonisation, among other things. Once a claim has been accepted, native title holders have the right to fight against or negotiate terms of development on the land, but that does not give them exclusive land rights. If the rights of pastoralists, mining companies, the federal government, or private owners come into conflict with native title rights, they supersede or override the native title rights.

The legislation requires native title holders to establish a corporation to oversee their native title, negotiate land use agreements, as well as manage and administer their funds. Some progressive corporations, like Port Curtis Coral Coast Aboriginal Peoples Charitable Trust (PCCC), take on additional responsibilities in the hopes of improving their mobs’ quality of life through education, training and employment, cultural projects and economic development.

In 1995, four tribes lodged overlapping native title claims across the Bundaberg

Region, spanning from Gladstone to the Auburn Range near Monto and the Burrum River – covering 19,500 square kilometres (SqKM) of land and 26,600 SqKM of sea. It would be 17 years before the Gooreng Gooreng, Gurang, Taribelang Bunda and Bailai peoples would formally meet. Some four years later, in 2016 they joined forces and successfully established one united corporation – the PCCC. In 2017 native title consent determination was achieved.

The PCCC board is comprised of representatives from all four tribes. Their mission is to care for country and sustain the natural environment, preserve their ancient culture, advocate for sovereignty, human rights and self-determination, and improve social outcomes for current and future generations.

Their funding is derived predominantly from a land use agreement, as well as one-off government grants that are obtained for specific projects through competitive tender processes. The PCCC prudently invests the majority of their income, using the dividends to self-fund their ongoing operations and social programs. As their investment portfolio continues to grow, they directly help about 1200 traditional owners each year.

In 2021, about 900 children were assisted through the PCCC’s Back to School program, which helps families cover the costs of school fees, uniforms, resources and stationary. Cultural and sporting scholarships are available to young people who have political, social, cultural or sporting aspirations and have been selected to participate at a state or national level. The PCCC also provides financial support for local Aboriginal people to achieve tertiary qualifications.

In partnership with the Centre for Rural and Regional Indigenous Health, the PCCC runs a Tucka Time program that teaches cooking skills, healthy eating, physical activity and emotional support. They helped almost 50 families buy whitegoods, such as fridges and freezers.

But it isn’t just about supporting their young people. In 2021, 88 local elders on the age pension received an assistance payment. It’s something the PCCC do at Christmas each year to acknowledge their elders and their contribution to the community. They also helped fund more than 20 Aboriginal funerals in 2021.

The PCCC has an employment and training arm, where they partner with businesses and organisations that are committed to maximising participation of local Aboriginal people in their workforce. In January last year, PCCC helped place eight people in traineeships. The PCCC supports about 50 people into roles each year across the Bundaberg and Gladstone regions. They also hold an annual career and pathways showcase called Dorrie Day.

Each of the PCCC’s programs is having a positive impact on the lives of Aboriginal people; addressing the social determinants that will hopefully one day help close the life expectancy gap of our local traditional owners – gainful employment, healthy lifestyle and education.

The PCCC wishes to acknowledge their elders; past, present and emerging, as well as neighbouring tribes – Wakka Wakka, Kabi Kabi, Butchulla and Durrambal.

Learn more about PCCC and their work at www.pccctrust.com.au

Solid rock

The largest Aboriginal rock engraving site on the east coast of Queensland sat undisturbed on a northern bank in the humble Burnett River, near Pine Creek, for tens of thousands of years. That is, until 1971 when the 3348 square metre petroglyph was cut into 92 stone blocks, each weighing up to five tonnes, and dispersed throughout Queensland.

While some were displayed at the University of Queensland, Griffith University and Queensland Museum, others sat in the gardens of businesses, organisations and private homes in Cherbourg, Maryborough, Bundaberg and Rockhampton. The state government of the day argued the rocks needed to be removed for their own protection. They planned to build an irrigation barrage downstream that would cause irreparable damage to the important archaeological site.

The earliest European documentation of the site dates back to the 1880s. They attempted to interpret the engravings as taking animal and human forms, outlines of feet and hands, as well as myths and symbols significant to local Aboriginal people. Elders today reference the markings as relating to men’s and women’s business that can’t be shared freely. A photograph donated to the Queensland Museum in 1915 shows the site imbedded in sand, ‘clearly contrasting with surrounding miles of impenetrable scrub’ (read more about Bundaberg’s scrubland on page 40).

Together, first nations peoples from the Gooreng Gooreng, Gurang, Taribelang Bunda and Bailai tribes and the PCCC have been working with the Queensland Museum to locate as many of the blocks as possible and repatriate them to country. Currently in the custodianship of local traditional owners in Bundaberg, the PCCC and Museum will soon start consulting local Aboriginal people and the Bundaberg community more broadly to determine where and how these culturally significant carvings should be displayed.

Background research and images thanks to the PCCC and the journal article, Obligations to Objects.