Material taken from the following media releases:
Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation media release: http://www.yamatji.org.au/index.cfm?objectID=492DAA3E-1372-5CE6-24DB3430464392E1
Government of Western Australia media release: http://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/WACabinetMinistersSearch.aspx?ItemId=132832&minister=Buswell&admin=Barnet
Australian Government media release: http://minister.innovation.gov.au/Carr/Pages/SKAPATHFINDERTELESCOPETOFINDHOMEINWA.aspx
Australia’s Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope will be built in Western Australia’s Mid West following an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) signed with traditional owners, the Wajarri Yamatji people. On 13 November 2009, the ASKAP ILUA was registered with the National Native Title Tribunal, allowing project works to begin on the 127 square kilometre land area subject to the Wajarri Yamatji native title claim.
The agreement was officially announced at Western Australia's Parliament House in Perth on 26 November 2009 by the Wajarri People, WA Attorney General the Hon Christian Porter MLA, Minister for Regional Development the Hon Brendan Grylls MLA, Science and Innovation Minister the Hon Troy Buswell MLA, and Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). In Canberra, the Australian Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon Kim Carr, and Attorney General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, welcomed the result, saying it was a critical step towards securing the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope for Australia.
The ILUA is a result of successful negotiations between the Commonwealth, Western Australia, CSIRO, the Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation and the Wajarri Yamatji people. The agreement allows CSIRO to lease the land, conduct works for the project without extinguishing native title, and protect heritage values.
The agreement provides financial and non-financial benefits for the Wajarri People. Additionally, education benefits, in particular up to 70 cadetships with CSIRO over the next 30 years, will create an enduring and mutually beneficial partnership between the Wajarri People, CSIRO and the government parties.
The ILUA also provides a number of other employment, business and contracting opportunities for Wajarri, as well as creating specific cross-cultural training programs in the CSIRO, run through a newly created Wajarri Aboriginal Liaison Officer position.
The Wajarri People and YMAC are pleased the ASKAP ILUA has helped CSIRO and the government parties advance Australia’s bid for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project. The ILUA contains agreed mechanisms for all parties to negotiate a new agreement if Australia is successful in its SKA bid.
Photo: Western Australian Government Ministers and Representatives of the Wajarri Yamatji at WA Parliament House, Perth. (Front row, from left) Ike Simpson, Ross Boddington, Ron Simpson, Malcolm Ryan. (Second row, from left) Brendon Grylls, Muriel Little, Elizabeth Papertalk, Gloria Merry, Janie Ronan. (Third row, from left) Dawn Hamlett, Colin Hamlett, Geoff Mongoo, Pam Mongoo, Troy Buswell. (Fourth row, from left) Gordon Fraser, Darryl Mongoo, Robin Boddington, Anthony Dann, Christian Porter, Gavin Egan. Photo credit: WA Department of Commerce.