Barngarla Native Title Determination

Mr DULUK (Waite) (14:41): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier update the house on the recent Barngarla native title determination?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:41): It's disappointing again that those opposite don't want to hear about important matters—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —because the member for Lee has read about it in the paper. It shows the contempt and disrespect that those opposite have—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Education is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —for the people who have been fighting for native title for the better part of two decades. It has been a struggle. It has been an absolute struggle for the people who have taken—

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is called to order. Is the member for Lee interjecting while he is on two warnings?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —the extraordinary step of lodging a claim. It wasn't without quite a huge amount of work because there were those who decided to challenge their claim. People decided to challenge their claim.

Mr Mullighan: What, so you're talking about the treaty?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I'm talking about—

The SPEAKER: Premier, please be seated. Member for Lee, I'm sorry. If you interject again—you are on two warnings—you have been for some time; I will be asking you to leave shortly. Premier, please continue.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you very much, sir. Yes, as I said, the Barngarla native title determination has now been granted and it is a very happy day for the people of the Barngarla nation, who reside in centres like Whyalla and Port Augusta and Port Lincoln and, in fact, it is a huge area that their nation covers. It was a great day last week to be in Whyalla where this momentous event was celebrated. More than 300 people were there. I was very happy to be there with the local member, the member for Giles, who was also celebrating with the local people, together with the mayors of both Whyalla and Port Augusta. People came from right over the state for this moment. In fact, people came from right around our nation to celebrate this because it was a struggle. It was a 20-year struggle for these people.

Three separate applications were made to the Federal Court. When it was handed down, it was a very happy moment for these people. I must, in particular, acknowledge the work of the Croft family, who lodged all three of the claims in the Federal Court. I would like in particular, to acknowledge the work of the co-chairs of the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation, Rod Wingfield and Emma Richards. Emma and Rod were both there. They both spoke. As I said, it was a very important time.

I would like to also say that we appreciated the representations that were made on the day from some of the artists from within the Barngarla community. I was particularly excited to see so many young people who were present at the celebration. In particular, I would like to acknowledge one person from the Barngarla nation who has achieved quite an outstanding success, and that is Rebecca Richards. In 2010, she was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. In fact, she was the first Australian Aboriginal Rhodes Scholar, and she was from the Barngarla nation.

This was a great time of celebration. It has been a struggle. What I found quite emotional on the day was that many of the people who originally moved for this claim were no longer with us. So it was in some ways a day of celebration but also a day of sadness for many of the families of those who, because of the length of time for this determination to take place, were no longer there. I would like to acknowledge all the people who contributed to this application and I look forward to meeting with them on other visits to Whyalla.